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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This fall will bring "Reactions: An Illustrated Exploration of Elements, Molecules, and Change in the Universe" by Theodore Gray (Black Dog & Leventhal), the long-awaited third installment in Gray’s popular Elements trilogy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist Naomi Alderman will join the judging panel for the 30th anniversary of The Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Women's Prize for Fiction has announced it is adopting a new, collective sponsorship model instead of a single headline sponsor going forward. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lucy Cavendish College, part of the University of Cambridge, has named the 2017 winner of its fiction prize as Sarah Ward, with her novel Resurrection, Port Glasgow. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Goldsboro Books has launched a new £2,000 prize for “compelling” contemporary fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anthony Horowitz children's publisher at Walker has said it would not instruct authors on whether or not to include characters of a different race or background in their books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dame Hilary Mantel is to give a series of lectures around the UK which will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Award-winning author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers is publishing a new book with HarperCollins at the end of this year and has signed a new two-book deal with the publisher for future publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At outlets that report to NPD BookScan, total unit sales were 8% higher in the week ended May 14, 2017, than in the comparable week last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite recent challenges, the category keeps drawing in publishers—and readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Holtzbrinck technology company Digital Science has opened a subsidiary company in Moscow. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elif Shafak and Lucy Hughes-Hallett are named judges in London; the public is one of five judges in the Alabama-based Harper Lee Prize. The post Competition Notes: Sunday Times Prize Judges, Harper Lee Legal Fiction Prize Finalists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 3% in the week ended May 7, 2017, compared to the similar week in 2016, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crime writer and police psychologist Emma Kavanagh has signed a three book deal with Orion Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsury has signed a "major" work of non-fiction entitled The Growth Delusion by David Pilling. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is taking another step to penalize the lowest quality websites by lowering their visibility on the social network.Facebook is using artificial intelligence to identify when a link leads to a website with the worst ad experiences, like sponsored content spam and other negative cues, and... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors' and publishers' groups are protesting a change in Amazon's third-party sales policy. The retailer says it's in line with 'the rest of Amazon.' The post Authors Guild Joins Warnings on Amazon’s Buy-Button Book Sales Policy appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After 2016 brought a welcome boost with sales up 1%, the German book industry couldn’t carry the momentum into 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When it comes to sports bras, the longstanding idea was to keep breast movement to a minimum during exercise, but Lululemon is turning that notion on its head. After two years of development, incorporating everything from advancements in neuroscience to behavioral psychology, the activewear firm... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomberg Media wants marketers to capitalize on consumer mood swings.The publishing tycoon plans to use its NewFronts presentation on Monday to promote a new offering, dubbed Trigr, that allows marketers to serve a custom tailored creative or branded content after specific market conditions are... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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