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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Education giant plans sale of stake in Penguin Random House to Bertelsmann as it cuts payout to shareholdersAlmost £2bn was wiped from the stock market value of Pearson after the beleaguered FTSE 100 company issued profit warnings for the next two years and said it would cut its payout to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Fallon has presided over a string of mishaps at the educational giant and a plunge in the share priceForecasting is difficult, especially about the future, as the old line goes – but is it quite as hard as John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson, makes it seem?Two errors in 2016 were... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From crime fiction to medical advice with a sense of humor, both well-known authors and new voices were among the bestselling books in Germany last year. The post Germany’s Bestselling Books of 2016: Fiction and Nonfiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The former U.S. Register of Copyrights will succeed Tom Allen as AAP president and CEO. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anne Perry is set to join Simon & Schuster UK as editorial director of adult fiction from her role as commissioning editor at Hodder. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all,” Henry David Thoreau once wisely counseled. It is in that spirit that we offer this list. As happens every year, 2016 was full of widely praised novels, but the 15 fiction titles listed here are the ones the Monitor’s... Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Religion fiction publishers discuss the different sales strategies surrounding Christmas-themed fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Culture, Media and Sport select committee has warned that budget cuts are making culture less accessible, as part of its latest report on funding and support for the arts outside London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers Marina Benjamin and Joanna Walsh, author/illustrator Oliver Kugler and poet Jack Underwood are on the shortlist for a new prize for creative non-fiction writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Television rights to Tom Marcus’ memoir Soldier Spy have been sold to Kudos, producers of "Broadchurch", "Spooks" and "Human", who are planning a returnable series. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new US administration under Donald Trump could make things "very, very much worse" for authors, according to campaign group Authors United. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Does a Lithuanian author stand a chance in the ocean of books on British bookshop shelves?’ Noir Press’ Stephan Collishaw says he has a good answer. Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė is the Vilnius-born, 39-year-old author who won the 2009 European Union Prize for Literature for her ‘Kvėpavimas į... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erri De Luca has won the 24th annual Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award for The Day Before Happiness (Allen Lane). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Machines Work by David Macaulay (Dorling Kindersley) was today announced as the winner of the £10,000 Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize 2016, which champions the best science books for under-14s. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eason is on track to retain its profitability this year, with single-digit revenue growth, its c.e.o. Conor Whelan has told The Bookseller on the eve of the all-important Christmas bookselling season. However, the chain’s chief also warned of the potential impact Brexit could have on the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a year plagued by racial tensions, Colson Whitehead took the National Book Award for fiction for his novel "The Underground Railroad," a visceral and creative imagining of a female slave's escape from slavery. Although it takes years to write a book and bring it to publication, the National... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Further action against media in Turkey prompts international publishers' criticism; and Amazon KDP names a new recipient of its Spanish-language award. The post International Notes: IPA Blasts New Turkish Censorship; Amazon Awards Spanish-Language Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion Publishing Group has appointed Emad Akhtar, senior commissioning editor at Michael Joseph, as publishing director for Orion Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twice Man Booker-shortlisted novelist Tom McCarthy is to premiere a new collaborative performance as part of a series of live events from live literature producer and independent publisher Penned in the Margins. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Love to read historical fiction? Take our quiz and find out how well you really know the genre. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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