flâneur

AI was supposed to democratize talent. Here's why it could spawn more elitism. - Haas News | Berkeley Haas

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A few weeks ago, the editor of a literary magazine told me: “I can’t tell who wrote the essay I’m reading.” The piece in question had sailed through a plagiarism check, but a few too many sentences rang with predict-the-next-word perfection. Unsure whether it was produced by man or machine, the editor nixed the submission. This challenge is suddenly ubiquitous. We’ve all by now watched in amazement as generative AI produces prose, poems, music, video, code, and concept art that is indistinguishable from what a competent human can create but at a tiny fraction of the cost. So what are college admissions officers to make of “personal” statements, newspaper desks of op-ed submissions, scientific journal editors of manuscript submissions, book publishers of proposals, and so on? When the ability to expediently undertake honest evaluation eludes us, we intuitively default to a next-best shortcut: pedigree. Expect a resurgence of reliance on status symbols we may have thought the world was b

This opinion essay was originally published in The Boston Globe on July 27, 2025. Image: Marcio/stock.adobe.com A few weeks ago, the editor of a literary magazine told me: “I can’t tell who wrote the essay I’m reading.” The piece in question had sailed through a plagiarism check, but a few too many sentences rang with predict-the-next-word perfection. Unsure whether it was produced by man or machine, the editor nixed the submission. This challenge is suddenly ubiquitous. We’ve all by now watched in amazement as generative AI produces prose, poems, music, video, code, and concept art that…

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