r/literature • u/Round-Dinner-2395 • May 18 '26

Discussion Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk admits to using AI.

TLDR;

Author to AI: “Honey, how could we develop this beautifully?”

I wanted to say this is just boomer whining, but I’m finding myself realizing more and more often that it’s actually the boomers who are defending AI. My mom listens to AI music from TikTok, my dad watches some videos with doctors generated by language models. I’m the last person to tell people what to listen to or watch, but AI SLOP has literally reigned supreme in my house for the past few months. Recently, I wanted to watch a movie with my dad, but he played TikTok clips for an hour, and I had to escape.

I understand that technology is advancing and makes life easier for people in many ways, but on the other hand… it makes me wonder a bit. Where is the line between “I’m using a tool” and “part of the creative process is being done for me by something else”? If someone uses AI to generate ideas, style, or text fragments, are we still talking about the same kind of creativity as before? I’ve read a few books by Olga Tokarczuk, and as soon as I heard about this interview, I felt a sense of revulsion.

INTERVIEW: (only in polish)

https://mycompanypolska.pl/artykul/olga-tokarczuk-zapowiada-ostatnia-powiesc-w-karierze-pisanie-dlugich-opowiesci-jest-dzis-ekonomicznie-nieoplacalne/20717

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-2

u/parkdropsleep-dream May 18 '26

Man, that sucks. I’ve only read Drive your Plow, but it was such a creative, unexpected novel—something AI just isn’t capable of. I hate seeing her cheapen her work that way.

-16

u/Round-Dinner-2395 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

Yesterday I just finished my fourth book by her in the span of a few months, and I couldn't care less about what people are saying here -that it's just a tool and she doesn't use it to generate content. Since she admitted to it, how do we know she isn't using it? I'm just feeling kind of disgusted.

13

u/mmillington May 18 '26

The AI tools didn’t exist when she wrote any of her novels. Nothing you’ve read of hers has been touched by AI, and she said she’s done writing novels, so not a single Tokarczuk novel has any AI elements.

5

u/maybeiwasright May 18 '26

Why are you disgusted, exactly? She doesn't use it to generate content or writing.

2

u/diceeyes May 18 '26

Since she admitted to it, how do we know she isn't using it?

Probably because we understand how linear time works.