To those on the outside, celebrity ghostwriting seems like a walk in the park—you get paid to hang out with a famous person and organize their deepest secrets for public consumption. What’s the downside? Those with any experience in the profession will answer that question with unparalleled eagerness, Vanity Fair’s Maxwell Adler learned, with even the indefatigable Buzz Bissinger (of Friday Night Lights fame) swearing off the endeavor. And now there’s AI, which might lead some celebs to believe they no longer need an ink-stained wretch to smooth out their on-set anecdotes. How will this play out for the booming memoir biz? Read the story and find out.
While VF features editor Hillary Busis doesn’t cite Silicon Valley’s ongoing move to the far right as a reason for dumping wearable tech in her latest “Nominated for Oblivion” column, I don’t think that’s because she’s not concerned about it—she just had so many other points to raise regarding the tiresome ubiquity of rings, watches, and other devices that make adult life one never-ending Presidential Physical Fitness Test that Sergey Brin’s Trump ties failed to make the cut. If you want an excuse to leave your Fitbit on the charger today, here you go.
Besides, if you’re a male with a certain level of fame, there’s probably an X user poised to generate a flatteringly jacked image of you even before you close a single ring on your Apple Watch, José Criales-Unzueta reports. It’s a strange, AI-enabled trend tied to the protein-packed fixation on an unattainable version of “masculinity” that’s pickling brains around the world. Inevitably, the same celebrities who appear so swole on social media will appear before us in the flesh—say, while promoting one of the 60 new movies our staff can’t wait to see this fall—where they will look disappointingly human. So not only is AI coming for ghostwriting gigs, but it’s about to make me think the cast of Avengers: Doomsday has really let themselves go? What a time to be alive.
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