Was AI Used to Write a Book About the Maui Fires?

What the bigger implications of an AI-generated propaganda puff piece means for our society

I’m not going to talk about the Maui fires since there are plenty of people on Substack and social media with first-hand accounts and analyses who can unpack this event far better than I can. That said, this is a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to anyone who has been affected by the fires as well as the government’s failed response.

Someone’s Capitalizing on Maui’s Pain with a Book

What I’d like to touch on in this post is something I found in one of Celia Farber’s recent posts on the tragedy.

LINKS to Testimonies and Perspectives from Hawaii, Following Unnatural Turbo Fires That Decimated Lahaina, setting the stage for it to Become a pilot Smart City, AS PLANNED

At the bottom of the post, she includes a link to David Kurten’s tweet about a book published on August 10 about the fires.

I was sure that when I went to Amazon to look for it that the book wouldn’t be there anymore. I mean, the fires started on August 8. How the heck could a book be out just two days later? And if someone was callous enough to exploit the tragedy in order to write a propaganda puff piece for climate change, they would’ve had the good sense to take it down by now.

Right?

But there it is: Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and Its Implications for Climate Change.

Many of the commenters in Celia’s Substack suggested that the speed at which this book was published meant that the whole thing was pre-planned. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t think that’s the reason for this book coming out so quickly.

I’m pretty sure someone used AI to write this piece of garbage. And they did it to exploit the tragedy in order to pursue their own agenda.

“On the eighth day of August in the year 2023, an unfortunate incident occurred in the upcountry region of Maui, Hawaii, wherein a fire was ignited. This fire swiftly escalated into an extensive wildfire, rapidly engulfing the entire island. Its ferocious advancement was augmented by a combination of unfavorable conditions, including drought, scorching temperatures, and ferocious hurricane winds.

The flames eventually reached Lahaina, which possesses immense historical significance for Maui. Tragically, a significant portion of its cultural and economic heritage was obliterated by the fire’s relentless fury. Moreover, the fire posed a grave menace to other parts of Maui, comprising residential zones, agricultural lands, and natural ecosystems. Regrettably, the fire took the lives of six individuals, decimated over 270 structures, and scorched more than 50,000 acres of land. This calamity stands as one of the most catastrophic wildfires ever witnessed in Hawaii’s annals.”

They probably used AI image generators to create the photos too. I’m not positive of that, but the lack of citations for the photos seems to signal that they’re stock photos with fires integrated into them.

Who’s Really Behind the Book?

If the government or some Gates-funded eco-terrorist organization were behind the book, don’t you think they would’ve taken the time to write something halfway decent? And to invest good money in a writer who didn’t churn out something that reads like a high school student’s essay?

Or how about that pseudonym — Dr. Miles Stones? Here’s what the good doctor wants us to know about him via his bio:

“I'd rather not say”

I’m pretty sure GloboCap would’ve come up with a better, more convincing pen name and bio than that.

Or maybe I’m wrong.

I just finished reading Atlas Shrugged and this whole thing with the Maui fires feels eerily similar. Let’s say the government or some related organization was behind the fires as well as the lack of rescue and support. And let’s say they rushed out this book, whether it was done by a real writer or AI.

They probably don’t care if a very small portion of the population realizes the truth. They believe that the majority of people are stupid and will shout down anyone who tries to speak contrary to the narrative they’re being fed. They’d be right, too. Even if people are awake to what’s going on, the government can rely on the rest to silence them on their behalf.

That said, I believe the two — the Maui fires and the book — are separate events. Here’s what I think:

I think a rabid climate change activist used ChatGPT or some other AI generator to rush out the book. It clearly wasn’t important for them to capture the facts.

The excerpt I posted above mentions a death toll of 6 people. As of writing this on August 17, ABC News reports that toll at 111. The “writer” also didn’t care to explain why that area was historically significant.

Much of this hyperbolic writing is meant to stir up emotions, not to tell a story or unpack the facts. It reeks of the progressivist agenda, which AI is well-trained in.

Final Thoughts

I know this book and the use of AI to write it is insignificant compared to the tragedy. However, I want you to consider the bigger picture when you have time to.

Not only is AI being used to push out progressive propaganda via all kinds of media, it’s being used to literally rewrite history. Sure, human writers can and have been doing that as well. But the speed at which our present day events and our recent history are being rewritten is terrifying.

If the world’s largest book repository (i.e. Amazon) were to become inundated with AI-generated, propaganda-pushing literature, think about how much more difficult it will be to find genuine reading material. It’s like trying to find news sources you can trust. Or social media platforms that won’t censor you. Or movies, music, or other art forms that aren’t carefully crafted to push a specific agenda.

It’s really starting to feel like the number of places to turn to for truth, authenticity, and freedom are shrinking. Are we going to wait until all of our sources of information, culture, and entertainment have been corrupted?

I don’t have a very good answer for this myself. I’ve tried to seek out alternatives to all of them and there’s nothing really reliable out there. To be honest, I don’t think there’s a concerted effort to preserve these aspects of our society.

All I think we can do as individuals is to keep our eyes and minds open so that when deception is presented to us, we can spot it immediately. I also think it’s important to keep a personal library of books you love and sources you trust, a la Fahrenheit 451. We’re have to be the ones who preserve the honesty and integrity of this country and society since we can’t trust anyone else to do it.