The Serendipity of Connection in Coffee Shop Encounters

In this era of artificial intelligence, who can compose a better beach read for the vacationing masses? The beloved fiction writer Curtis Sittenfeld … or ChatGPT?

Listen as Sittenfeld sits down with the Opinion editor Susannah Meadows to talk about what they learned after pitting her writing against artificial intelligence, and hear excerpts from both stories to decide for yourself which is the more compelling read.

Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.