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.