Dear friends, dear customers,
For those lucky enough to have missed the Thélyson Orélien affair, here is a short summary: an author, Thélyson Orélien, whose first novel won the Fnac novel prize and made the Goncourt shortlist, is suspected of having made massive use of artificial intelligence to write it. Doubt remains, certainly, but in the end it hardly matters. The angle that interests us here is authenticity. Reading a book written by an AI could be defended. But the reader would rather know beforehand. The deception of having a book written by an AI and then presenting oneself as its author leaves a bitter taste. It would be like presenting socks made elsewhere as being made in Italy. Have no doubts about ours, which are knitted entirely on the far side of the Alps!
This affair prompts us to tell you what we do with AI and what is fatto a mano. The editorials in these newsletters have never been written by an AI and never will be. They may be mediocre, but they are authentic! AI rids us of a few ugly typos, but the ideas, the convictions and the bad jokes are our own. Our photographs are real photographs: the feet you see are ours, and while the six-packs on the underwear pages are sadly not ours, the model does exist in flesh, bone and muscle.
We did of course try our hand at sorcery on a few products, out of curiosity, but the result did not really convince us. Rendering the colour and texture of a pair of socks remains a perilous art.
A few technical tasks have been automated with AI (restocking, translation, part of the accounting, technical audits of the website…).
Our customer service team uses AI to retrieve the context of conversations, but not one email goes out without our intervention (AI is generous to a fault and will happily promise you the impossible: we would soon be bankrupt if we listened to it every time).
We wish you a beautiful autumn.
Jacques and Vincent
Postscript
Here is a witticism this affair brings to mind. In the eighteenth century, a bishop known for his systematic use of ghostwriters asked Alexis Piron:
"Have you read my latest work?"
"No, my lord, and you?"
Pair of the season: Super-Durable socks
After a scorching summer in which the coolness of linen, the discretion of no-show socks and the lightness of sheer weaves made many people happy, the Super-Durables are taking back control of the sock drawer.
New colours appear this season, still with the hold and the resistance you value. Even in pink, they will last longer than roses…
More than 60 colours in each length!
- See the Super-Durable knee-high socks in cotton lisle
- See the Super-Durable mid-calf socks
- See the whole Super-Durable range
Merino: wool, stay one step ahead of the cold
Every order is a chance to prepare your drawer for the whims of the weather. The cold will not fail to return: give in now to the pleasures of wool and its enveloping warmth.
All our wool socks are made from merino sheep's wool, prized for its softness.
Slippers: the art of staying at home
The cold season has its pleasures, beginning with that of staying at home with warm feet.
Our leather slippers, made in Italy, offer exceptional comfort without conceding anything to the elegance one owes one's family. You can even wear them to receive friends at home; the slippers will look their best.
Sport: eternal good resolutions
The good resolutions of January that you did not keep should not deprive you of the pleasure of making new ones.
Tennis, golf, riding, running: whether the plan is to take it up again or to improve, it is time to get equipped! Once the investment is made, giving up is harder.
Knee-high
Mid-Calf
