It seems odd to be considering five stars for a book about a whale and his tiny penis and if Stanton's book had only made me laugh I wouldn't. Yet there's a devilish intelligence at work here, something that touches on the profound in surprisingly important ways. It did make me laugh, but it's Stanton and I expected that. What I didn't expect was the depths he delves into the themes and complications of AI and its place in today's (creative) world. Many people have no doubt had strange, existential conversations with ChatGPT but only Andy Stanton could channel it into something this engaging. He parodies (in admiration) the scattered, footnoted style of Foster Wallace and taps into his insatiable stream of consciousness rants to leave us with a fascinating and entertaining book about what ChatGPT means, while somehow actually getting you involves the Benny's ridiculous story. The first prompt enables the creation of an amusing fairy tale about a whale who overcomes his physical inadequacies to become a hero. Then, through constantly probing and invention prompts, Stanton/ChatGPT write an epic tale about religious cults under the waves, characters that realise their fictional nature, a super villian version of Colonel Sanders and much more. They do this through lyrics, haiku, screenplays, Shakespearian interludes, raps, chruch sermons, weaving in dialects and existential debates in which Stanton seriously begins to question his sanity.
Through this mad ride, Stanton probes and probes the nature and quality of this machine. He is interested in its capabilities and its limitations. Anyone interested in the reach and potential of AI needs to read this book. In particular, of course, Stanton wants to know what AI is capable of in the creative sphere. It is indeed a battle between machine and author. He easily finds its limitations, especially in his mockery of its lack of style, but then he is frequently surprised, even mesmorised by the answers that pop out of it. He experiments with different styles of prompt, stretching ChatGPT in the realms of style and content. The choice of "tiny penis" allows him to also push the machines boundaries and question the reasons for its seemingly random sensorship. He looks at how it learns, how it apes him, how it becomes him but, I think, remains firmly convinced (most of the time) that he is using a tool (and not visa versa) that can catalyse ideas, that in the right hands it can genuinely create.
Of course, he's also just trying to be funny. I would go so far as to put Stanton on the long line of heritage leading back to Monty Python. His choices are infinitely surprising. The haiku about Benny's tiny penis cult had be bursting out with laughter in a crowded train. He is unashamedly childish in his silly whims, and yet you cannot doubt the seriousness of the analysis he presents. There is also a joyousness in his manipulation of language, in his HUBBA BOOS! the riotous songs. He places great importance on the details, on the weight of names, on the use of capital letters, on the ability of language to create different voices through subtle changes. You also get an insight into his own creative processes and see the work behind the seemingly short and simple children's yarns that he spins with apparent ease. The bottom line is that Andy Stanton's children's books are as much fun as one can have (for adults as well) and he manages to transfer that sense of insane, silly fun to a book about one of today's most vital and relevant topics. Hats off for the ideas, for the attempt, for the madness, for throwing this magnificent muddles out into a world filled with the bland and repetitive, filled with literary creations that read as if churned out by a heartless CharGPT prompt. If there is to be a battle between man and machine in the realms of creativity, Stanton wins the first round with a clear knock out blow.