ronin_khan OP t1_j45fx8h wrote on January 13, 2023 at 7:54 AM

Reply to comment by dbtng in My free 100 page non-technical book about the impact of AI in society, employment, etc...feedback and collaborations welcome. We are in for a rough ride, but the destination is great by ronin_khan

Thanks for writing that dbtng! Will carefully look at your points one by one and how I can improve on my writing. It´s unfortunate you only read 10 pages, but I understand. If there's one or more interesting books on this topic you would recommend, please let me know. If they´re not technical better, since the technical aspects of all this interest me less than the societal ones, as you can see.

I agree with you about talking about yourself. Will check that too. People don't care about us, they care about them. You're right. Any particular passage that annoyed you?

It's hard to write about all these concepts when you want to be brief, but yes, I understand that the "everything free" point may be confusing. Will revise.

About "if the service is free, the product is you", you're wrong, I "got the memo" and I know this concept very well for many years now...but didn't want to use such cliche we have all heard 1000 times, also in this book. My biggest challenge was to try to make the book short and stay on topic, make it clear for people that read probably a lot less than you or me. As you can see I also think in the form of many threads at once, so herding all the cats is hard sometimes and the writing may get confusing to readers. (one of my previous books was 348 pages precisely because I wanted to make each point in detail...and I didn´t want to torture my readers that way again! This time I prefer to point them in one direction, and then my book to complement what they already know with interesting points or ideas...or for the book to be a good introduction to someone completely unrelated to reddit, futurology, etc.. I wanted it to be more a book that a non-tech family member could understand)

About "an example or two" and giving examples of real companies...I agree with you would have been better, and believe me, I had many in mind, but I didn't want to date the book by referring too much to current events. Due to its nature, the book is not evergreen anyway, but I didn't want it to sound old two months down the line either.

Thanks again. I appreciate constructive criticism

dbtng t1_j45gg7f wrote on January 13, 2023 at 8:01 AM

You seem earnestly interested in producing the best book you can. Writing can be a painful process. Stick to the point. Use direct sentences and action verbs. Use examples to illustrate the concepts you introduce to your readers. And ... for the type of writing you are doing, source your opinions. Again, good luck. Climb that hill.

ronin_khan OP t1_j45h22w wrote on January 13, 2023 at 8:09 AM

Thanks man, yes, I am, and you can't imagine how much comments like yours help! It's painful, yes. You've done it too? If so link me to it, I am interested. Also, if you ever have the time to read more of the book and want to let me know more weaknesses of it, I am all ears. It's not nice when someone criticizes your work, but it's necessary. My work is not perfect but can be better with feedback like yours, if I am willing to leave my ego aside and listen.