Not immune, but let’s say resistant. Due to federation, they couldn’t lock down existing federated content; due to open source they couldn’t lock down the user experience; and due to those two, nobody’s going to offer them a check for a couple million dollars.
There is test-taking software that locks out all other functions during the essay-writing period. Obviously, damn near anything is hackable, but it’s non-trivial, unlike asking ChatGPT to write your essay for you in the style of a B+ high student. There is some concern about students who learn differently or compose less efficiently, but as father to such a student, I’m still getting to the point where I’m not sure what’s left to do other than sandbox “exploitable” graded work in a controlled environment.
Yeah, I don’t want to cast aspersions too much. I could see what Gene’s getting at, and it is absolutely literary in a way that not enough sci-fi is, but the mix didn’t work for me, and I just didn’t want to spend time with that crew or see where Severian was going to end up. Or rather, given the narrative’s structure, how he was going to end up where he ends up.
Read the first volume, so, the first two books I think? Did not particularly love it. Misogynistic post-apocalyptic Holden Caulfield just never grabbed hold, and the prose, to borrow a phrase, insists upon itself.
Rober’s always seemed a little off to me, like one of those who enjoys being famous more than the stuff that made him famous in the first place. Seems like he’s gotten worse, though. For instance, this video declares it “was not sponsored [by Zipline] in anyway nor did they pay for any of my travel or accommodations,” despite extolling their virtues over and over again by name, and lingering lovingly on their drones and logos like Michael Bay with a car company’s badge.
Smarter Everyday is also rather polished, and he’s even more in bed with the military industrial complex, but (as of a few months ago anyway) he comes off like he’s still actually enjoying the projects themselves and the information he’s sharing. It’s hard to exactly articulate the point where a content creator loses me, but I can feel it in my nerd-bones.
I don’t know Kennet, MO specifically, but this is my thought every time I read one of these stories. I guess we’ll (probably) find out in 18 months.