Book Blogger Hop: What’s Your Biggest Fear?

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

As a book lover, what’s your biggest fear??

Biggest fear? Um…heights, large crowds, apostatizing, a diet that consists solely of mushrooms and Brussels sprouts? A life without my anti-anxiety meds?

Oh, wait. The prompt said, “as a book lover.” I mean, everything I do is as a book lover, so the above is right, but… As the prompt specified “as a book lover” and this is for the Book Blogger Hop, I should probably come up with something more related to books.

Well, one big fright is encapsulated in this email I got yesterday:

I’m so worried about the impact of “AI” replacing human creatives—and even human responses. How many bloggers/reviewers are doing something like “write me a positive review of TITLE by AUTHOR in the style of…”? (also, what’s the point of that?) I can easily see a point where someone is having ChatGPT construct a review of a book based on a Claude summary of that book.

I’m afraid of fire and/or flood attacking my books. (and the rest of the house—including the people and dogs that reside in it). I’m afraid that my wife will read this post and have opinions about where I placed people and dogs on that list.

I’m afraid of the monster at the end of the book.*

I’m afraid that we as a society are steamrolling to a post-literate state. Not just because that will lead to a loss of literature and imagination, likely to a reduction in empathy and intelligence, too. But because of what will replace it and what kind of people that will come from it. (I do hold out hope for groups like those depicted in Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization)

I am—this is fairly serious—about my eyesight and my ability to keep reading. My left eye has been practically useless for years on this front, and while Ol’ Righty is hanging in strong. Yes, audiobooks are a great way to experience books. But not being able to use my eyes on a book would be a big hit.

I’m afraid that the “big 5” will stop taking chances when it comes to new voices and new ideas and churn out cookie cutter things that will be a step above AI. There’s a good argument to be made that they’ve already started. Also, that the 5 will further conglomerate to the point that they’re just 1 or 2.

And I’m so worried about the baggage retrieval
System they’ve got at Heathrow

* Not really, but it felt amusing.