--- title: "Tech Guy Says Books Will Be Replaced by AI-Powered “Thunks”" description: "Anaconda co-founder and CEO Peter Wang predicts that books will soon be replaced by AI-generated, interactive content trips dubbed \"thunks.\"" date: "2023-10-25" modified: "2023-10-25" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tech-guy-books-ai-thunks" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "ai bros" - "ai-generated content" - "the digest" --- # Tech Guy Says Books Will Be Replaced by AI-Powered “Thunks” ![Anaconda co-founder and CEO Peter Wang predicts that books will soon be replaced by AI-generated, interactive content trips dubbed "thunks."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Who Woulda Thunk Exit: books. Enter: thunks. Or so says Peter Wang, PyScript inventor and the cofounder and CEO of the open-source Python platform Anaconda. In a [recent post to Twitter-formerly-X](), Wang offered a bold vision — or maybe an incredibly bleak one, depending on your point of view — of humanity's literary future. Rather than publish books, Wang predicted, humanity will soon begin to publish inventions dubbed "thunks," which he describes as "nuggets of thought that can interact with the 'reader' in a dynamic and multimedia way." "There can still be a classic linear 'passive read mode,'" the developer added, "but that can be autogenerated based on the recipient's level of existing context and knowledge." In other words? It seems that according to Wang, gone are the days of humanity expressing its creativity, engaging in the quest for understanding, and fulfilling our need to catalog our existence through the thousands-year-old tradition of literature. Instead, all we'll do is think a little thunk, and allow AI to generate a multimedia choose-your-own-adventure experience. ## Altmanism 101 While such an invention might offer a degree of entertainment, it's hard to imagine that these "thunks," as described, would be a passable replacement for books. After all, if you're doing it well, reading is far from a "passive" act, as Wang suggests in his X post. Not only is the act of writing creative, but the act of reading is creative as well: without visual or other sensory stimulations, our mind is forced to fill in the visual blanks, stirring our imaginations and sense of wonder, and sometimes provoking profound insights in the process. What really makes Wang's "thunk" vision notable, however, is how clearly it depicts what seems to be a commonly-held belief system among the broader AI community regarding humanity's relationship to creativity. There's a certain [Sam Altman-like sensibility]() to Wang's theory that these imagined creations would oust books from their place in human culture and society. The idea that AI could replace that in lieu of gamified, autogenerated content — which, lest not forget, is always a regurgitation of human-made material — isn't only depressing, but feels representative of the "all human-made creative output is just recapitulated iterations of all of the creative material that came before it" theory present among many an [AI Guy's logic](). From image generators to thunks, at the heart of the generative AI industry lie deeply consequential questions concerning how human labor, creative labor included, is valued. If autogenerated thunks really are the future, the answer, sadly, seems to be "not so much." **More on thunk inspo:** [*BuzzFeed Says AI Will “Replace the Majority of Static Content”*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()