Vauhini Vara is a formal / essayistic genius. This book is unlike anything else i've ever read--an interrogation of human relationships with digital media, informed and inspired by the forms that the media itself takes, and what such form does to a reader and a writer as a human living in this world. I can definitely see this book being taught in undergraduate courses across many disciplines--a contemporary literature course, an ethics course, a science and technology course, a journalism course. Just fantastic!

Loved this in concept but not in practice, DNFd about halfway in. Personal narrative stuff was more compelling then ai snippets

Overall I enjoyed this book. I think the author takes an introspective look on how digital technologies have impacted her life and personal identity while exploring the ways she interacts with the world. The reflection takes place from 2019-2024 and Vara provides her musings on the development of various modern technologies, namely Google, Meta, and Open AI. She also tussles with what role she should play as the previously named corporations seek to use their platforms to connect and possibly dominate the entire world. Will she be a conscious consumer, critic, or conspirator? There is an memoir like quality to the book as she spends a considerable amount of time interrogating the contributions she is presently making and reflecting on the decisions she has made in the past as she came of age online.

I think my least favorite part of the book were the conversations with ChatGPT. There are so many AI generated articles and think pieces being passed around online that it detracted from the conversation I felt like I was having her as a reader. It felt like I was walking in on a conversation that I wasn't invited to. I think I have had my fill of ChatGPT's sterile and empty writing style, but to Vara's credit she discusses this at length in a chapter.

Overall a solid book that I enjoyed and feels in conversations with Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin and Filterworld by Kyle Chayka.

An exceptional and experimental book that uses AI tools to compose a sometimes slow but more frequently brilliant narrative about what it’s like to live in the Age of AI as a writer. A memoir and a meditation on technology, Vara stumbles a couple of times with concepts that don’t take off (the Spanish chapter), but her detailed conversations with ChatGPT, her observations about her own life in technology, and her discussion of her sister’s tragic passing resonates strongly. I haven’t read the previous collection she references frequently, Ghosts, so I’m not sure if a lot of this ground was covered there, but Searches is an important book that helps us parse being a creative person at a time when creative work is being reimagined with AI technologies. Kudos to her for the Processes section, which will probably find its way into more books in the days ahead.

Vara's observations and musings about AI, the internet and growing up perpetually online resonate with me as an aging millennial, born and raised chronically online. I like Vara's meta analyses, being able to utilize ChatGPT in a way that serves the reader AND the author herself. Clearly Vara doesn't need AI to create a book, but the interplay between the two, the exchange that weaves and binds back and forth-- feels apt and timely. Sometimes, using Uncanny Valley writing is a tell-tale sign of it, but if you teach it right (learning language models!) it seems to be another thing entirely. I enjoyed this book, and feel like Vara played and utilized AI in a way that served her. Would recommend 10/10

I found this book both engaging and informative. The memoir portions of the book were of particular interest to me, especially when the author became contemplative and focused on the metaphysical aspects of human-technology interaction. This would have been a perfect book for me if the metaphysical questions posed by the author were explored at greater length.

Searches is an interesting look at how AI and ChatGPT is being folded in, or forced in in some cases, to life as we know it. As a millennial who grew up on MySpace and Xanga, I appreciate Vara's perspective. It seems the Uncanny Valley is a bit closer to home than we may have realized.

I loved this book; smart, incisive commentary, and a fascinating new voice in artificial intelligence and its impact on creative arts. I found it moving and deeply thoughtful.