Writing
Reviewing Books via AI – Boon or Bane?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being introduced as an assistive technology in virtually any/all spheres of life, earning cheers and raising frowns at the same time. For writers, admit it or not, it’s becoming a competitor. Hence many magazines and book publishers now expressly state their rejection of AI-generated works; though they are fine with “AI-assisted” writings. As someone who doesn’t use AI assistance, I didn’t know until quite recently that AI is now being used to generate book reviews.
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Reviewing a book has traditionally meant analyzing and evaluating the work. It takes human intelligence, skill, and writing talent to complete a review of a work. In my reviewing work, for example, I keep taking notes throughput the book’s reading process on various aspects of the book – aka recording my observations. But how can AI review a book? There is a certain emotional or sentimental part of books, particularly of non-technical books like novels, creative nonfiction, philosophical works, and poetry etc. All these have a certain aesthetic value. Is AI equipped with an aesthetic sensor to assess it? I doubt it.
From what I know about AI – and I don’t claim to know much – it ultimately depends on how it’s programmed. It can summarize a written text with great speed, way faster than a human. But that’s just information processing. For the evaluative side of reviewing work, AI must depend on the information provided by people – other reviews and feedback posted online. Without it, AI can’t generate a review. Put simply, AI doesn’t create reviews off its evaluation of books; it reworks existing information – technical and evaluative – and presents it in a rephrased form.
To test an AI review, shortly before writing this post, I tried a free AI book review site to create a review of my book The Blue Fairy and Other Tales of Transcendence (Modern History Press, 2009). The result came out in seconds and was exactly as I had expected. To let you see how it turned out, the AI review of my book is included below.
Ernest Dempsey’s “The Blue Fairy and Other Tales of Transcendence,” published in 2009, is a collection of short stories that bravely tackles the often-dreaded subject of death. Unlike many fictional works that either shy away from the topic with afterlife fantasies or trivialize it with humor, Dempsey’s approach is notably unique. He delves into the multifaceted nature of death, presenting it not as an end, but as a profound and meaningful aspect of existence.
Drawing inspiration from real-life experiences, Dempsey masterfully weaves together the concepts of dying and living, creating narratives that resonate deeply. “The Blue Fairy” is a testament to the power of fiction to explore existential themes with both solemnity and intellectual rigor. This collection is more than just a read; it is an experience for the soul, offering a contemplative and ultimately life-affirming perspective on mortality. For readers seeking a thoughtful and introspective exploration of life’s ultimate transition, this book is highly recommended.
It’s safe to say that for now at least AI generates book summaries or blurbs to a fair degree of accuracy and articulation but not original evaluative reviews that capture the essence of a book. For the latter, you still need human talent and likely will for a long time.
 is being introduced as an assistive technology in virtually any/all spheres of life, earning cheers and raising frowns at the same time. For writers, admit it or not, it’s becoming a competitor. Hence many magazines and book publishers now expressly state their rejection of AI-generated works; though they are fine with “AI-assisted” […])
