Josh Szeps recalls that Fry's father thought him clever but fundamentally unoriginal, good at disciplined pastiche of other people's brilliance. Fry says that is exactly the complaint now made about AI. He then argues that a writer's own voice grows out of layers of imitation.
Yes.
…and fancy. And you were great at putting together a disciplined pastiche of what other brilliant people had said. Absolutely. But you were fundamentally unoriginal. And that, you know, all you were good at was putting on a show of intelligentsia. Exactly. Is that a criticism that stuck or that's
really interesting? Because, and I'm not wishing to suddenly become all lectury about it, but it's so because that is what he said, that I was a pastiche, that it was just a kind of. Of laying on of things that I perceived from outside in the world and that I could recreate cleverly and make it look like it was a work of art. Isn't that exactly what we moan about in AI now? Because AI does the same. It just scrapes all the data and puts it together so neatly and so cleverly, but it's not original. But the reason I call my first novel The Liar was it was about this image I had because I noticed that this is actually how it all works. And in funny enough, Elliot said the same thing I'm quoting him all the time. But, you know, great, great artist Steele was the way he put it. And the image I have for it is teenagers, very often and younger, you practice your signature because it's your logo.…
Right.
And then one day it's fixed and it is your signature. And the same with a walk. I used to look at other boys as we sort of walked into school from our houses and think, oh, he carries his book in front of him like that. That looks quite cool. His book's kind of like that. And other people, oh, he's…
Do you think it will from AI?