Why 'What Should I Read Next?' Is the Most Important Question in the Age of AI
The Essential Question: "What should I read next?"
An exploration of how we choose what to read, from library shelving to a new book search engine built on 72 literary prizes. The author argues that human curation remains the best filter, contrasting it with algorithm-driven social media and AI, and reflects on the value of personal recommendations.
People remain the great filter, whether we ask a trusted friend what they’ve enjoyed reading, or a stranger of kindred spirit brings you their passionate obsessions.
- JennyWeston
https://ryanholiday.net/the-reading-list/
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/info/index.html
Start somewhere.
Go places.
It's fun.
JW
- thataccount
Poster is drinking the "Breen Cola". I don't find that prizes, especially modern ones awarded for literature, equate to "stuff worth reading". In most cases, something worth reading is going to typically be 70-80 years old—back when people had to use their imaginations and more extensive vocabulary that wasn't being doused and invaded by vile AI swill.
The same thing is often true of movies in that the older ones are more well-crafted and better paced and carry messages still relevant now.
- giobox
This for me is one of the last great unsolved problems on the internet. I've yet to find a book recommendation site/algorithm/social thing/whatever that actually works well enough for me to trust it and invest my time in logging my own reads to improve the results etc.
I've had far more success personally in growing my reading list with books I ended up loving by following a few people on Instagram who share their reading groups choices. Similarly, anytime anyone whom I vaguely trust recommends me a book I just order it immediately on Amazon and add to the input pile.
It's vitally important for me to keep the next read pipeline well stocked - I get through a lot of books, and if I run out for whatever reason it can take me weeks to get the habit going again.
Virtually every other form of media, I can find a recommendation system that works well enough, even if it's not perfect. Books have always been an outlier for me personally.