Generate Real

When Ads Generate Themselves

John Herrman | Intelligencer | 27th October 2023

Amazon has overturned "truth in advertising" as a business norm and an ethical norm by offering AI tools enabling advertisers to create generic copy and faked images. Presumably Amazon has concluded that consumers will still be swayed by advertisements and images which they know to be fictional; and Amazon's interest is in maximising quantity of transactions, not quality of transactions (1,500 words)

Real Play

Devon Brody | Paris Review | 19th October 2023

Reflecting on The Sims, a video game that enabled children to simulate adult life through their on-screen avatars. "It seemed both boring and exhausting, the way she tried to take care of herself while also maintaining a social life, not to mention a creative practice. None of her art was very good, and I didn’t get to read her writing, which she didn’t like to work on. She was always so tired" (2,200 words)