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An acclaimed philosophy ebook that tackled the risks of digital manipulation has sparked a public reckoning after its supposed writer turned out to be solely fictional and partly the product of synthetic intelligence.
In December 2024, a philosophy ebook was revealed in Italian beneath the title of a thinker referred to as Jianwei Xun. The ebook is titled “Ipnocrazia: Trump, Musk e La Nuova Architettura Della Realtà” (“Hypnocracy: Trump, Musk, and the New Architecture of Reality”), and explores themes of digital manipulation and a number of realities.
In April, Italian journal L’Espresso tried to rearrange an interview with Xun — solely to find that he doesn’t exist. The publication revealed that the supposed writer was really a fictional persona created by Andrea Colamedici, a widely known Italian thinker and essayist who was credited within the ebook merely as its translator.
Colamedici later confirmed that he had designed Xun as a part of a conceptual undertaking. The precise textual content was crafted utilizing a mix of generative AI instruments, together with ChatGPT and Claude, which he used to not automate writing however to simulate philosophical inquiry.
AI collaboration framed as critique
“I didn’t ask the machine to write for me,” Colamedici defined in an interview with WIRED; as a substitute, he used the AI instruments to generate concepts, then wrote the drafts himself. Next, he fed the drafts into ChatGPT and Claude and requested the AI fashions to critique them, with a purpose to discover different views. However, Colamedici admitted that “at the same time, I couldn’t have generated this concept without AI” and referred to as his relationship with the instruments a “creative codependency.”
Colamedici mentioned that he selected the title “Hypnocracy” as a result of varied applied sciences, together with synthetic intelligence, are influencing individuals’s states of consciousness. “Today, Trump and Musk multiply realities with AI. The technology allows us to create infinite narratives, parallel versions of the world, and they play with that. It’s no longer about hiding the truth by taking it off the table, but about piling so many lies on the table that the truth is drowned out,” he mentioned.
Public response prompts philosophical reflection
Colamedici mentioned many readers had been “hurt” after they discovered the true id behind Xun, or that the ebook was written utilizing generative AI instruments. They felt linked to the nonexistent writer and wished that he existed, regardless that he’s a creation of Colamedici’s creativeness.
While the thinker says that he “deeply regrets” hurting his readers, he additionally maintains that it was vital to put in writing and publish the ebook this fashion. Colamedici informed WIRED that, “It’s not just a book, but a philosophical experiment… It’s not that the AI wrote this book, it’s an investigation into ideas of authorship and truth.”
Colamedici plans to proceed experimenting with AI and mentioned he might publish future works beneath the title Xun, primarily when AI fashions are concerned. He added that Xun wouldn’t be his solely alter ego, as Colamedici intends to discover different identities and strategies for partaking with rising applied sciences in literature.
