The Algorithm Didn’t Kill Art — It Just Exposed the Truth
When an AI-written novel hit #1 in Japan, writers panicked. Entrepreneurs should take notes.
AI didn’t kill creativity. The algorithm did.
Last week, an AI-written romance novel hit #1 on Japan’s biggest fiction platform, Kakuyomu.
Not because it was good.
Because it was fast.
The author used AI to pump out 100,000 characters a day—so much content, so quickly, it exploited Kakuyomu’s algorithm, which rewards frequent updates, total page views, and follower growth.
The rapid release of new chapters and characters propelled the novel, titled “I Bumped Into a Girl at a Corner and Used Healing Magic on Her, Curing Her of an Incurable Disease and Blindness, and She Became Very Attached to Me,” to #1 in the daily rankings.
Writers called it cheating.
Critics called it the end of creativity.
But I think this warrants a deeper and less emotional examination.
The machine didn’t cheat.
The author, who goes by the pen name, Natsumi Nai, didn’t cheat.
She played by the rules faster.
…and that’s the part everyone’s missing.
AI isn’t the villain.
There is no villain.
It’s the same system entrepreneurs, executives, and creators are trapped in—one that rewards quantity over quality, noise over nuance, and motion over mastery.
So let’s talk about what this story actually means.
Because this isn’t about novels.
It’s about business.
It’s about leverage.
It’s about what comes next.
1) AI didn’t kill creativity. The algorithm did.
The novel didn’t rise to #1 because readers loved it (although many did). It rose because the platform did.
That’s the new economy of attention—algorithmic.
The people who win aren’t necessarily the best.
They’re the ones who understand the rules of visibility.
If your work depends on someone else’s algorithm, you don’t own your future.
Own the system, or get played by it.
2) The author got paid. The critics got loud.
While writers argued about ethics, one person made money.
She saw the loophole. She used it.
Every time there’s outrage, there’s opportunity hiding underneath.
Follow the friction—it always points to the profit.
3) If AI can out-publish you, your model’s broken.
The machine didn’t win because it’s better. It won because it’s faster and cheaper.
That’s what AI does best—it crushes inefficiency.
If a tool can outwork you, automate you, or outperform you… the problem isn’t the tool.
It’s the system you built around yourself.
Adapt or get automated.
4) The next moat isn’t creativity. It’s conviction.
AI can remix, replicate, and reproduce.
But it can’t believe.
In a world where everyone can publish, what you stand for becomes your filter.
The stronger your conviction, the clearer your signal.
Conviction is the new distribution.
5) “Boring” is the new billionaire play.
Everyone’s using AI to chase novelty.
Few are using it to automate “boring” businesses that print cash.
HVAC, logistics, insurance, plumbing—AI won’t replace these.
It’ll multiply them.
Buy boring. Add leverage. Get rich.
Become a Finding Peak Insider Today
Finding Peak isn’t a newsletter—it’s a movement of builders, founders, and savages chasing mastery.
Join the Inner Circle and start operating at your next level.
6) You don’t need more creativity. You need more clarity.
The AI novel didn’t win because it was inspired. It won because it was understood.
It gave the algorithm exactly what it wanted.
Most leaders drown in complexity.
They think “more” is the answer.
But clarity—not creativity—compounds.
You can’t scale confusion.
7) AI didn’t destroy art. It revealed what was fake.
Readers said they wanted art. They clicked on output.
Executives say they want innovation. They reward compliance.
We don’t value creativity—we value convenience.
…and AI gives us that faster than ever.
But when the feed floods, when sameness wins, what’s left?
Voice. Perspective. Judgment. Humanity.
Focus on what makes you irreplaceable and undeniable.
The Rub
AI isn’t here to end creativity.
The people screaming the loudest aren’t protecting art,
they’re protecting mediocrity.
The ones who adapt will build new empires out of the wreckage.
Because in every disruption, one truth remains:
You can moralize it, or you can monetize it.
The smart ones do both.
This is the way.
Hanley
♻️ Share this with someone still playing by the old rules.
Follow
for more contrarian takes on power, leverage, and influence in the age of AI.