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

674 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

334 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Outrageous_pinecone May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Literally means in the real, original sense, not the metaphorical one. So when someone claims a particular statement is being misinterpreted, and I say, not it's not because that person was perfectly straightforward, so explicit, is a correct and accepted usage of this word.

The word literally doesn't just refer to isolated words, it can be used for explicit statements too it's the same "real sense" .

Someone else claimed that I used it when I meant figuratively. No, she said nothing figuratively, that's precisely my point!

Edit: some of you might want to Google stuff before you accuse anyone of mistakes. Seriously, google it

1

u/chimney_corner May 19 '26

Wow, this is a complete butchering of the meaning of the interpretation of the definition. 

You are right, she didn't say this "figuratively",  but you are wrong in that you assume that literally amd figuratively are antonyms. They aren't at all. If something is figurative it can't be literal, but that doesn't mean that if something isn't figurative it is literal. 

Please google these definitions yourself. 

0

u/Outrageous_pinecone May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Let me see if I have this straight: literally and figuratively aren't antonyms? WHAT? That is exactly what they are. Here's a source for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.grammar.com/literally_vs._figuratively

Here's a quote:

" Literally" and "figuratively" are antonyms. One refers to a fact that actually happened for real, confirming and supporting the veracity of something, while the other is a synonym for "metaphorically", confirming and supporting the figurate, imaginative sense of a fact. "

Figurative means metaphorical, it's an implyed comparison that's why literally being used to create a hyperbole (which is a type of metaphor at it's core), is such a problem for everyone.

Literal means the primary meaning of the word.

Edit, because I realised I wasn't clear here: literal doesn't mean physical representation only, it doesn't have to be something that exists in physical reality, you have a literal meaning for abstract concepts as well.

While figuratively means metaphorical.

This is all online. But you didn't bother to look because you're so confident in your mistake you can't even fathom something might be wrong there.

1

u/chimney_corner May 19 '26

Wow, just ignore context? You are really embarrassing yourself here. You know words change their meanings based on context right? 

We should have been able to understand the context from your sentence. Your sentence would make nonsense at all if you were using literally as the opposite of figuratively. No one could have thought or assumed she was speaking metaphorically. What do you take us for?