Will GenAI now kill the book?
Who needs full-length books when GenAI can summarize texts on the internet for us? Who writes full length-books now that GenAI writes for us?
To read is to think. To write is to think. As academics or graduates, being able to think is a pretty darn good skill to have. And to be able to communicate thoughts effectively — be it with friends, family, co-workers, clients — we need the appropriate vocabulary. We use different terminology in different settings, just like we use different national languages in different countries. Here, agility — the ability to switch between settings and find the appropriate words — is required. By reading and writing, we grow our vocabulary and practice using it effectively.
The importance of communication
In a tech-intensive world, what do humans bring to the table? If computers are superior to us at computing, humans are superior to computers at… humaning. Okay, so that’s not a word in anybody’s vocabulary (yet). But let’s just say ‘being human’. And when scientists discuss what makes humans human, different from other animals even, it’s our unique abilities communicate. Civilizations are built on communication. Communication skills, perhaps also many other soft skills, are going to be more important, not less, in the future.
Don’t let us leave wordsmithing to computers. We’re the ones who invented the words and we’re going to continue to be the innovators.
And by the way, I’m not quite sure TV really did kill the radio star…