For all the hype in 2023, we still don’t know what AI’s long-term impact will be | John Naughton

As with the printing press and the dotcom boom, initial frenzy and speculation obscures the lasting legacy of new technologies“Innovation,” wrote the economist William Janeway in his seminal book Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, “begins with discovery and culminates in speculation.” That just about sums up 2023. The discovery was AI (as represented by ChatGPT), and the speculative bubble is what we have now, in which huge public corporations launch products that are known to “hallucinate” (yes, that’s now a technical term relating to large language models), and spend money like it’s going out of fashion on the kit needed to make even bigger ones. As I write, I see a report that next year Microsoft plans to buy 150,000 Nvidia chips – at $30,000 (£24,000) a pop. It’s a kind of madness. But when looked at it through the Janeway lens, ’twas ever thus.“The innovations that have repeatedly transformed the architecture of the market economy,” he writes, “from canals to the internet, have required massive investments to construct networks whose value in use could not be imagined at the outset of deployment.” Or, to put it more crudely, what we retrospectively regard as examples of technological progress have mostly come about through outbreaks of irrational exuberance that involved colossal waste, bankrupted investors and caused social turmoil. Bubbles, in other words. In recent times, think of the dotcom boom of the late 1990s. Or in earlier times, of the US railway... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-12-30 16:00:37 UTC ]
News tagged with: #recent times #late 1990s #awful lot #printing press

Other Publishing stories related to: 'For all the hype in 2023, we still don’t know what AI’s long-term impact will be | John Naughton'


For all the hype in 2023, we still don’t know what AI’s long-term impact will be | John Naughton

As with the printing press and the dotcom boom, initial frenzy and speculation obscures the lasting legacy of new technologies“Innovation,” wrote the economist William Janeway in his seminal book Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, “begins with discovery and culminates in speculation.”... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-12-30 16:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recent times #late 1990s #awful lot #printing press


The Rundown: Google AMP has short-term appeal but potential long-term costs

Publishers, still smarting from blows inflicted by Facebook and its ever-changing news feed, have found some comfort in the warm embrace of Google. The post The Rundown: Google AMP has short-term appeal but potential long-term costs appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google amp


Books on the impact of the internet and AI are finalists for the first-ever Women's Nonfiction Prize

Books about the dizzying impact of the internet and artificial intelligence are among finalists for a new book prize that aims to help fix the gender imbalance in nonfiction publishing Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-03-27 18:22:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nonfiction prize #artificial intelligence #gender imbalance #book prize


Publish Nazi newsletters on your platform, Substack, and you will rightly be damned | John Naughton

The online publishing service has been criticised for the way it has allowed extremist propaganda to flourish on the siteIt’s funny how naive smart people can be sometimes. Take the founders of Substack, a US-based online platform that enables writers to send digital newsletters directly to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-06 16:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ve found #earn money #issues raised #online publishing


PW Notables 2023: John Chrastka

John Chrastka, founder and executive director of EveryLibrary, the nation’s only political action committee dedicated to supporting libraries, stepped up for the library community in 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john chrastka #supporting libraries #library community


2023 in books: Protests, bannings and the rise of AI helped shape the story of publishing

The publishing world made plenty of news in 2023, but not only because of the books themselves Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-12-08 14:55:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing world


Patricia Engel has won the 2023 John Dos Passos Prize.

This week, the 42nd John Dos Passos Prize was awarded to novelist and short story writer Patricia Engel (Vida; The Veins of the Ocean; Infinite Country; The Faraway World) by Longwood University. The Dos Passos Prize is the oldest literary award given by a Virginia college or university, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-05 16:21:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #longwood university #patricia engel #infinite country #virginia college #year honors #literary award


Preserving our digital content is vital. But paying $38,000 for the privilege is not | John Naughton

Storing online data in perpetuity is not just about photos and texts but thoughts and ideas. Platforms such as WordPress are starting to act, but it must be at a realistic priceWay back in 2004 the two founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, thought that it would be a cool idea to scan... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-25 16:00:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #printed books #larry page #university libraries #digital content


Publishing execs express concern over generative AI’s impact on traffic and IP protections

Publishing executives shared their honest and unfettered opinions on the rise of generative artificial intelligence technology and its impact on traffic, IP protections, content production and jobs at the Digiday Publishing Summit last week. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-09-25 04:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #generative ai #content production #publishing summit


‘AI’ at Bologna: The Hair-Raising Topic of 2023

The buzziest programming of the run-up to Bologna Children's Book Fair focus on artificial intelligence and its impact on publishing. The post ‘AI’ at Bologna: The Hair-Raising Topic of 2023 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-01 11:22:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bologna children #post ai #artificial intelligence #children's book


Digital Book World 2023: The Future of AI Writing and Audio

According to multiple presenters at the Digital Book World conference, ChatGPT has potential to remake the way people write and streamline production and editing, while AI voice replication promises affordable audiobook adaptations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ai writing #multiple presenters #people write #streamline production #audiobook #digital book #book world


Digital Book World 2023: The Future of AI Writing and Audio

According to multiple presenters at the Digital Book World conference, ChatGPT has potential to remake the way people write and streamline production and editing, while AI voice replication promises affordable audiobook adaptations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ai writing #multiple presenters #people write #streamline production #audiobook #digital book #book world


Children’s Book Author Tomie dePaola and Activist Icon John Lewis on 2023 USPS Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service announced new subjects for 2023 stamps: children's book author Tomie dePaola and civil rights activist John Lewis. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-12-14 18:11:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children's book #book author


Editors and agents laud actors’ impact on audio editions as spectre of AI looms

Figures from across the trade discuss the importance of securing professional voice artists to create a slick listening experience, as automated voice development continues apace.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-11 20:41:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audio editions


How Amazon puts misinformation on your reading list | John Naughton

Algorithms routinely come up with ‘recommendations’ for anti-vax ‘bestsellers’ or juices that cure cancerIt’s a truism that we live in a “digital age”. It would be more accurate to say that we live in an algorithmically curated era – that is, a period when many of our choices and perceptions are... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-08 16:00:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital age #browsing history


PRH UK furloughs staff for 'long-term health' of company

Penguin Random House UK has revealed it is furloughing "some" of its staff across the business, extending to staffers in its London office. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-06 23:18:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long-term health #penguin random house


Q&A: How AI Is Expected to Have a $19 Trillion Economic Impact by 2035

Artificial intelligence is expected to create more value for global businesses than the current worth of the entire United States economy over the next 15 years. That figure--$19.2 trillion--comes from an economic model commissioned for a new book called The AI Age by Adam Riccoboni, managing... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-03-11 21:34:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #artificial intelligence


Books and movies to wed! HarperCollins and Sony Pictures are committing to a long-term relationship.

Though books have been supplying the movie and tv industries with storylines since the dawn of the talkie, the rise of streaming content over the last five years has created a desperate need for more (MORE we scream as we toggle endlessly after binge-worthy distraction from the hell of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-17 14:53:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sony pictures #long-term relationship #streaming content #harpercollins


Long-Term Relationships: Backlist Backbones 2019

Engaged fans and ongoing relevance keep the backlist going at independent publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long-term relationships #independent publishers #independent publisher


Barker questions publishing's long-term commitment to diversity

Pat Barker says she has a distrust of the publishing industry’s regional and class diversity drives because it could be "fashionable" and may not represent a long-term commitment. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-27 18:57:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long-term commitment #pat barker #publishing industry