Quality non-fiction books are the antithesis of AI slop
Summary
Benjamin Breen's Substack essay argues that high-quality non-fiction remains a stable cultural force despite AI disruption. It recounts his library shelving experience, the shift from physical open stacks to digital learning labs, and how AI-enabled semantic search helped build the Book Prize Index to surface enduring non-fiction titles; the piece also reflects on the impact of AI on reading and libraries.