With the rise of AI language models and tools like ChatGPT and Bard, we've heard warnings from people involved, like Elon Musk, about the risks posed by AI. Now, a group of high-profile industry leaders has issued a one-sentence statement: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”That’s… heavy. It was posted to the Center for AI Safety, an organization with the mission "to reduce societal-scale risks from artificial intelligence," according to its website. Signatories include OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Google DeepMind head Demis Hassabis. Turing Award-winning researchers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, the godfathers of modern AI, also put their names to it. Hinton recently left Google over ethical concerns.It’s not the first statement like this. In March, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and more than 1,000 others called for a six-month pause on AI to allow industry and the public to effectively catch up to the technology. "Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict or reliably control," the letter stated. No specific scenarios elaborate on how AI could threaten humanity, but there’s been more than enough science fiction to make me think of worst cases. Thanks, The Matrix.– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – ... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2023-05-31 11:15:45 UTC ]
Speculative writers flesh out our passing thoughts into complete, functioning societies and explore how they might unfold. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2019-04-18 09:22:03 UTC ]
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Watkins Media’s science fiction and fantasy imprint Angry Robot has hired a new commissioning editor, Eleanor Teasdale, who joins from literary agency Greene and Heaton. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The finalists for the 2018 Nebula Awards, considered some of the most prestigious in science fiction and fantasy, were announced on Wednesday, with novelists Tomi Adeyemi and Justina Ireland, filmmaker Boots Riley and musician Janelle Monáe among the nominees. Adeyemi and Ireland were nominated... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sequel to the Canadian author’s bestselling feminist dystopia will be published around the world in September 2019Margaret Atwood has announced a sequel to her bestselling feminist dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, titled The Testaments. It will be published in September 2019.“Dear Readers,”... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new book festival for fans of fantasy, science fiction and horror is launching in Edinburgh next summer featuring authors including Scottish sci-fi writer Ken MacLeod and The Bone Season's Samantha Shannon. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint 47North has signed the recent winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award, Anne Charnock, for a further novel, set in the “disturbing near-future”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week: inside the golden age of science fiction, plus the epic drama of our atmosphere. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new book looks at four men who are largely responsible for the genre of science fiction as we know it today. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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FutureBook is partnering with social reading app The Pigeonhole to run a short story competition exploring the future of the book. The winning author is to be hosted at the FutureBook Conference, 30th November. Judges will be Molly Flatt, author and associate editor of FutureBook; Anna Jean... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four Tor authors—Charlie Jane Anders, Seth Dickinson, S.L. Huang, and V.E. Schwab—discuss identity, characters, and worldbuilding in science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint, 47North, has signed a new series of books from author James Maxwell. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The novelist Margaret Atwood recently caused a stir when, during an interview with Variety, she said that the 9/11 hijackers “got the idea” to fly planes into buildings from watching “Star Wars.” Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and other dystopian classics, did not have the facts... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George R R Martin is funding a new annual scholarship at a science fiction and fantasy six-week course to “help the next great fantasist on the long journey ahead”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Given her incredible skill at narrative economy, Ursula K. Le Guin could probably do a much better job of summing up her own achievements as a writer than I could. Then again, Le Guin could do most things better than most writers. An undisputed master of science fiction and fantasy, she also... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The prolific and profoundly influential writer, who brought a literary and feminist touch to works of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults, died at her home in Portland, Ore., on January 22. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ReedPOP has unveiled a lineup of science fiction, mystery and thriller authors for BookCon 2018, which includes such authors as David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, and Walter Mosley. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Trying to achieve change through something like science fiction seems like a pipe dream,' Adams says. 'But it also feels like the only thing that writers can hope to do.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Skybound Books, a co-publishing agreement between Atria and The Walking Dead creator's multi-platform entertainment company Skybound Entertainment, will focus on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It will be overseen by Michael Braff, who is based in L.A. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has developed a range of Barbican-inspired Penguin Classics to coincide with a new Barbican exhibition, Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For 33 years, Galaxy Press has been promoting the work of science fiction and fantasy writers and illustrators through the annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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