I think people still read, but the problem is largely that people read older literature, meaning anything older than 5-10 years at the very least. People are very hesitant to read something recent because it may very well be AI slop.

It's a crisis in literature. How do we fix this?

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SamBam 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Never heard that this is stopping anyone from reading recent books.

Maybe someone whose only method of selecting books is to scroll through Kindle and look at the titles, maybe they need to pay attention to publication dates. But the rest of the world picks books because they get a recommendation, they look at reviews, they know the author, etc.

NYTimes said that the new Marlon James book might be the book of the century so far. Hyperbole, I'm sure, but it's now on my reading list and I'm pretty sure it wasn't written by AI.

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wanderingpixel 4 hours ago | parent [-]

It is not so unusual to read books that have stood the test of time at least somewhat.

Newness is not really a valuable quality when it comes to books, barring some exceptions like books on subjects that change frequently and meaningfully.

Diminished quality however is a meaningful signal, and would give most serious readers pause.

	▲	SamBam an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Preferring books that have stood the test of time is totally different from just avoiding everything published in the last few years because you're worried it might be AI slop.

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pajamasam 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

None of the most read books of 2026 so far according to Goodreads are significantly older (https://www.goodreads.com/book/most_read?category=all&countr...). Also not the most sold Amazon books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2026/books

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coffeefirst 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Wait, really?

As best I can tell, the problem is contained to kindle self publishing and the like, which were always unfiltered. And we buy plenty of new books.

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sgt 5 hours ago | parent [-]

It's better with properly published titles but even those writers are increasingly using AI and leaks into their works.

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coffeefirst 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Out of curiosity what book did you get burned on?

	▲	sgt 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Haven't properly burned myself yet. I've just avoided books based on skimming through online or in bookstores. Some had pretty clear telltale signs of AI slop (although usually quite subtle). At his point I think that one has to assume that almost every author is using AI to some extent. And even if they don't, their editors will apply changes, no doubt using ChatGPT and other tools.

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rpdillon 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> People are very hesitant to read something recent because it may very well be AI slop.

I cannot imagine this is an actual trend that's preventing people from reading, so please bring a couple citations.

Reading has been on the decline for more than a decade, far beyond when AI was invented. I'll go with the 2008 Steve Jobs quote:

> In January 2008, Steve Jobs famously claimed that "people don’t read anymore," specifically asserting that 40 percent of Americans read one book or less the previous year.

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omraty999 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a completely ridiculous statement from someone who obviously does not read much.

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Jtariiiii 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

AI generated text isn't so hard to detect that people could get away with it. As long as you are reading a well reviewed book the chance of AI slop is very low.