Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie QudanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"There was a time when language was an unparalleled means of communication - a time when we still knew how to wield it, and relied on it to achieve peace and mutual understanding. But now it is simply tearing our world apart...A world ravaged by ranting. The era of the endless monologue."
The author of SYMPATHY TOWER TOKYO, Rie Qudan, (in)famously declared that she had used ChatGPT to write 5% of her Akutagawa Prize winning novel. The use of large language models (LLM's) is the most pressing issue now in the academe and in the workplace, and today's literature is now reflecting society's ongoing dialogue with rapidly changing times and social mores.
Where do we draw the line? Does 5% of LLM assisted writing render the human 95% null and void?
Happily, with this specific book, the 5% consists of the human characters "conversing" with an LLM or giving it a prompt. In order to truthfully show what an LLM would say, the author had to use one.
It's a memorable book. Tackling multiple themes such as the increasing bastardization of the Japanese language (as illustrated by the use of katakana over kanji), the ethical way societies should treat its criminals when one considers the state's partial responsibility in allowing them to become law breakers, as well as delving into the role of architecture in forming a city and its people... for such a short volume, it gives the reader plenty to think about.
I found it very interesting that in the beautiful tower that our architect protagonist builds to house criminals, the top two rules are: "One: Words must only be used to make yourself and others happy. Two: All words which do not ..must be forgotten." And at the very top floor? A library.
Does the future hold more books co-written by LLM's? If architecture is meant to "show cities where to go," as Qudan writes, then perhaps this book is her literary structure pointing a path forward.
After all, "words determine our reality."
(English translation by Jesse Kirkwood)
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