Peter Biles

Peter Biles is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. He is the author of three books, most recently the novel Through the Eye of Old Man Kyle. His essays, stories, blogs, and op-eds have been published in places like The American Spectator, Plough, and RealClearBooks & Culture, among many others.

Archives

Writing Isn’t Important?

_{A New York Times op-ed claims writing isn't as essential as we might assume}_{Peter Biles
September 30, 2026}

There’s a common phrase in many freshman composition classrooms that goes: “To write is to think.” The notion here is simple: The more you organize your thoughts through writing, the more refined, exact, and fully developed your thoughts become. George Orwell, the great British novelist and essayist, wrote to this effect in his great 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language.” Orwell points out how poor thinking leads to bad writing, which in turn leads to worse forms of thinking. And on and on it goes. I’ve personally found this statement to prove true in my own work, and I know so many other writers will say the same thing. Oftentimes, we don’t even really know what we think until we are forced to write it out or speak it out loud. So, …

Meta to Pay Billions to Several States

_{People like Jonathan Haidt have been warning the public of social media's dangerous algorithmic power over young people for years}_{Peter Biles
September 4, 2026}

29 states sued Meta, alleging that its platforms were designed to be addictive and users were misled about the risks.

Douthat Exits New York Times, Final Podcast Hosts Biohacker Bryan Johnson

_{Should all writers be podcasters, too?}_{Peter Biles
August 14, 2026}

He documented the chaos and drama of our political life from the rare perspective of a conservative addressing a largely liberal audience.

Epigenetics and the Arts Lover

_{Peter Biles
August 7, 2026}

Here is yet another clue about how we are both spiritual and physical beings. The two realms are connected in mysterious and remarkable ways.

Gutting Old Books to Feed AI: What Could Go Wrong?

_{Peter Biles
July 31, 2026}

The question is: Who wins? Maybe we should start buying up all the old books before the bots get to them.

More Books for the Bots

_{AI companies are buying (and destroying) rare books}_{Peter Biles
July 29, 2026}

AI companies are using physical books to train them for their large language models since these texts aren’t already ridden with AI-generated writing.

Horowitch and Harrington Chime in on the “Post-literate Society”

_{Is the age of longform reading truly over?}_{Peter Biles
July 20, 2026}

Despite good reasons to be optimistic about reading’s ultimate survival, Horowitch and Harrington are putting their fingers on something real and concerning. Even for someone like me, who grew up reading books, the allure of digital distraction is often overpowering.

George Washington Beats Supergirl at the Box Office

_{Maybe American audiences are ready for more optimistic and patriotic stories}_{Peter Biles
July 6, 2026}

Box office failures are a staple in the film industry, but every so often, a movie tanks so badly that it causes one to wonder whether Hollywood is drastically misjudging the country's pulse and interests.

New Study Finds Many Pastors Use AI in Various Ways

_{It's not just schools. AI is in the churches, too}_{Peter Biles
June 22, 2026}

The way AI is creeping into our cultural and religious institutions is worth keeping an eye on, especially since so many of us look to these places to understand what it means to be human in the first place.

Smartphones Have Contributed to the Declining Fertility Rate, Says New Study

_{It's easier these days to stay inside and on a screen instead of going outside and trying to meet people}_{Peter Biles
June 12, 2026}

It's at the point now, nearly twenty years later, that many colleges and universities are seeing significant drops in enrollment simply because there aren't enough college-aged students in the application pool.

AI-Generated Stories, Books, and More

_{Instances of AI-generated fiction are now all too common.}_{Peter Biles
June 2, 2026}

In March of 2026, the horror novel Shy Girl was pulled from publication after the author was suspected of using AI to help her write it.

AI Got Booed Off the Stage

_{Graduating seniors don't all approve of the technology's growing presence in society}_{Peter Biles
May 19, 2026}

Many graduating students may just want a simpler life where they can work, afford to live, and enter life-giving relationships.

Does Mental Health Awareness Actually Help People?

_{A new study and a forthcoming book argue that hyperawareness of mental health and illness can harm more than help}_{Peter Biles
May 7, 2026}

Matthew Loftus has a new book coming out on this topic later in 2026 called Resisting Therapy Culture: The Dangers of Pop Psychology and How the Church Can Respond.

AI is Forcing the Return of Writing by Hand in the Classroom

_{Sometimes, the old ways are still the best ways}_{Peter Biles
April 30, 2026}

Skipping the process of working through problems and arguments will end up ensuring students learn less, not more.

College Closures Are Getting More Common

_{What’s the state of higher education halfway through the 2020s?}_{Peter Biles
April 15, 2026}

If the demographic problem fails to get any better in the coming years, then it seems clear that higher education will continue to see these kinds of financial challenges.

Longform Nonfiction in Decline?

_{We still need to read long books about complicated topics}_{Peter Biles
April 8, 2026}

Perhaps it isn’t coincidental that this kind of longform writing is having trouble at the same time that the online news cycle gets ever more ephemeral.

Meta Retreats from the Metaverse

_{While Meta is scaling back on the metaverse, it is reportedly switching focus to artificial intelligence.}_{Peter Biles
March 20, 2026}

The ambitious project never paid its expected dividends. Consumers simply weren’t as interested in these VR headsets as Zuckerberg thought they would be.

What is Meta Up To? Big Tech Turns to AI Investment

_{The social media giant bought a social media site made up of bots.}_{Peter Biles
March 11, 2026}

Maybe AI will force us to reckon with the reality of the soul, which I also wager that no computer system can generate.

Good News: Young People Are Skeptical of AI — Even if Their Parents Aren’t

_{Peter Biles
February 27, 2026}

ChatGPT. Every student uses it to write papers. So goes the pervading fear, that is.

Are Young People Getting Tired of AI?

_{A new article suggests teens are not universally excited about the blossoming technology}_{Peter Biles
February 20, 2026}

Julie Jargon wrote an interesting piece for The Wall Street Journal about teen attitudes towards AI and found that their view of it isn’t so optimistic as many might assume.