Why Reading Is Now Restless The rise of AI-assisted writing, exemplified by a short story winning a major prize, raises concerns about the authenticity of authorship and the impact on the reader. The author argues that AI diminishes the intimate relationship between reader and writer, characterized by trust and connection, replacing it with anxiety and suspicion. This shift threatens the fundamental pleasure of reading, as texts may no longer be perceived as ‘gifts’ but as potentially deceptive imitations.

• An AI-assisted short story winning a regional prize has sparked debate about authorship and the impact on readers.
• The author suggests that AI-written fiction, with its identifiable stylistic quirks, leads to a breakdown in the reader’s connection with the text.
• The traditional ‘dear reader’ relationship, characterized by intimacy and trust, is threatened by the uncertainty of whether the author is human or machine.
• This uncertainty can lead to a restless, anxious, and self-conscious style of reading, diminishing the pleasure and immersion that literature traditionally offers.
• The urgency and compulsion of human writing, stemming from lived experience, are absent in AI-generated text, making it a potentially meaningless imitation despite its technical skill.