Can A.I. Writing Be More Than a Gimmick?

The new essay collection "Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age," by Vauhini Vara, opens with a transcript. "If I paste some writing here, can we talk about it?" Her interlocutor, the large language model ChatGPT, responds, "Of course!" The chatbot asks what specific themes it should focus on. "Nothing in particular," Vara replies.