The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink.

Disclaimer: Please don’t respond to this episode to argue with me about AI. I have zero interest in arguing it and will ignore that sort of thing. We are neither pro nor con on AI in this episode, though my natural need to see the glass as half full does try very hard to see possibilities of good. Instead of making arguments for or against emerging technologies, we are instead mainly exploring the issue on a philosophical basis, and everyone knows that philosophical discussions are infuriatingly devoid of actual conclusions and instead end with the philosophers saying, “Nothing can be known!” and then going out and getting drunk.

Here’s what we talked about in this episode:

* What kinds of readers are there in the world? I think it’s more than most authors usually consider. Which readers are there for connection with the author’s intent, versus who simply wants the story?

* Do we write for commerce, or because we want to? (Can’t it be both?)

* Is AI a creative tool or a lurking threat? We explore some options on both sides.

* Is it possible that AI will — after some sure-to-be turbulence in the meantime — actually purify the intent of art … meaning something we create simply because we want to create it?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnybtruant.substack.com