Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino Essay [email protected] Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:46 Photo by NASA / Unsplash “All our AI Frankenstein stories,” the author writes, “warn us that AI will destroy us, but far louder than that, they promise that the future is going to be mind-blowing and epic.” Will we heed the warnings? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the literary work that most clearly established the conventions of science fiction as we know it. Not only did the 1818 novel pioneer the archetype of the mad scientist, it also established one of the genre’s most important cultural roles: to warn us about ways humans, through our hubris, might create the very beings that eventually undo us. In subtitling the novel The Modern Prometheus, Shelley harked back to the Titan who stole fire from the gods and was punished by having his regenerating liver devoured every day by an eagle (since the liver was the seat of the emotions for the Greeks, we might as well translate it as “heart”). Inspired by the experiments of Luigi Galvani, who used electric current to stimulate the leg of a dissected frog, and his nephew Giovanni Aldini, who ran a similar experiment on a hanged criminal, Shelley had her mad scientist play God by endowing a patchwork of human remains with the spark of life. Two centuries later, the resulting monstrosity serves as a stand-in for any of our runaway technologies — the internal... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-01 09:46:57 UTC ]
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Publisher hits £161.5m takings, driven by Potter sales and Lose Weight for GoodThe evergreen Harry Potter franchise and the popularity of TV chef Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good has driven book publisher Bloomsbury’s revenue to the highest level in its 32-year history.Bloomsbury Publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The YA author’s first venture into adult fiction could find a wide readership, finds Alice O’Keeffe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary periodical The London Magazine is launching a new literary award for debuts in partnership with law firm Collyer Bristow. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell by less than 1% in the week ended May 13, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three attorney-authors are up for this year's Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, with an autographed copy of the late writer's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' waiting for the winner. The public votes through June 30. The post Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction Shortlisters: Lawyers in Love With... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American author and journalist Tom Wolfe, who wrote Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities, has died at the age of 88. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In categories of art, photography, fiction, nonfiction, and speciality books, the 213-year-old New England Society announces winners of its award for trade books of regional interest and significance. The post New England Society Names Five 2018 Book Awards: Fiction, Nonfiction, Art, and Travel... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing is breaking into non-fiction in the UK through imprint Little A. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The white suit-and-white hat–wearing Wolfe made his name as a literary journalist and found bestselling success with such books as 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,' 'Bonfire of the Vanities,' and the NBA-winning 'The Right Stuff.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber & Faber has acquired an "essential" new non-fiction title from author and senior campaigns manager John Grindrod. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Olympic champion and TV personality Tom Daley is publishing a new lifestyle book with HQ, called Tom’s Daily Goals. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After almost 200 years in Manhattan, The Center for Fiction is heading to the borough next door, where it will open a bookstore and café on its new premises. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Springer Nature, which places a strong emphasis on its Open Access and Open Research publishing, has been forced to defend its position after researchers in the Artificial Intelligence field vowed to boycott a new journal which is not being published OA. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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School librarians are unable to buy the range of books they want due to budget cuts, meaning children are not getting access to non-fiction and diverse titles, library professionals have told The Bookseller. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dialogue Books has acquired two new books by Green Carnation Prize-shortlisted author Niven Govinden, the first of which is about "protest, voguing, church and the erasure of queer lives". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The International Prize for Arabic Fiction has gone to Jordanian-Palestinian author and former refugee Ibrahim Nasrallah for his “masterful” rendering of a dystopian future. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pupils in primary and secondary schools are falling behind their peers because of an increasing “word gap” in their vocabulary, according to new research from Oxford University Press (OUP). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 2018 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters were awarded in the categories of fiction, history, biography poetry, and general nonfiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sharjah publishing house Kalimat will later this month launch the first Arabic language translations of two books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, including her title Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fierce bidding wars between publishers saw several big deals happen for politically charged novels at this year’s fair, as new books from Jeanette Winterson and Caitlin Moran were also revealed• What will you be reading next year? A roundup of London book fairFrom a distance, the only thing that... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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