Artificial intelligence can now write fiction and journalism. But does it measure up to George Orwell – and can it report on Brexit?Will androids write novels about electric sheep? The dream, or nightmare, of totally machine-generated prose seemed to have come one step closer with the recent announcement of an artificial intelligence that could produce, all by itself, plausible news stories or fiction. It was the brainchild of OpenAI – a nonprofit lab backed by Elon Musk and other tech entrepreneurs – which slyly alarmed the literati by announcing that the AI (called GPT2) was too dangerous for them to release into the wild, because it could be employed to create “deepfakes for text”. “Due to our concerns about malicious applications of the technology,” they said, “we are not releasing the trained model.” Are machine-learning entities going to be the new weapons of information terrorism, or will they just put humble midlist novelists out of business?Let’s first take a step back. AI has been the next big thing for so long that it’s easy to assume “artificial intelligence” now exists. It doesn’t, if by “intelligence” we mean what we sometimes encounter in our fellow humans. GPT2 is just using methods of statistical analysis, trained on huge amounts of human-written text – 40GB of web pages, in this case, that received recommendations from Reddit readers – to predict what ought to come next. This probabilistic approach is how Google Translate works, and also the method... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over 500 industry professionals sign open letter to bookseller after employee’s post about ‘tearing up books’ by Christina DalcherMore than 500 authors and book industry professionals have signed an open letter calling on Waterstones to reverse a decision to dismiss an employee who said she... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-11 10:31:48 UTC ]
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Her writing, about marriage and divorce, sex and its consequences, work-life balance, the challenges of child-rearing and other topics, still resonates today. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-10 20:21:55 UTC ]
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A new report shows significant increases in Barnes & Noble foot traffic, Amazon may be planning to open department stores, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-07-02 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Numerous activities and events at the ALA annual conference addressed the problem of book bans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Music artists say the bundle is ‘cheating’ the royalties system while authors have concerns about how streaming will affect how they’re paid and rights over their workAudio streaming giant Spotify, one of the world’s largest audio platforms, entered the audiobook market last October, offering... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-02 03:23:25 UTC ]
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A new report by a market intelligence firm, whose services include store foot traffic analysis, found that customer visits at Barnes & Noble locations have increased every month but one since November 2023 compared to the prior year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The group's 1,500 members from all 50 states aim to provide “support and encouragement for the educators, librarians, parents, and students who are the first line of defense against censorship, and for the authors whose books are under attack.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Former UFC and WWE champion Ronda Rousey will publish her first graphic novel next year. She said it's somewhat autobiographical, 'even though it didn't really happen.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-06-25 14:14:00 UTC ]
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Wind, who is also chief content officer at the Indie Book Publishers Association, is creating a limited collector's edition of his latest YA novel, initially published this spring by Chicago Review Press, as an incentive for donors to his Kickstarter campaign benefitting LGBTQ+ teens. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Before he began to write, John Cheever put on a three-piece suit and took the elevator from his Manhattan apartment down to the basement, where he took off his jacket and tie, and then began. Hemingway famously needed a drink to loosen him up. Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver has said,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-24 08:55:40 UTC ]
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“Through Multiculturalism We Become Better Humans”: A Conversation with Vonani Bila, by Ming Di Interviews [email protected] Thu, 06/13/2024 - 15:21 Vonani Bila with his mother and his son. Courtesy of Mark Waller, 2010.Vonani Bila (b. 1972) grew... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-06-13 20:21:36 UTC ]
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In which Robin Sloan writes Moonbound—a science fiction book about science fiction—and our writer writes his way into total insanity. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2024-06-11 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Restaurateur Josh Niland and recipe developer Hetty Lui McKinnon scoop prizes in food publishing awards, which also honoured aid worker Zomi FrankcomGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailTwo Australian cookbook authors have won prizes in this year’s James Beard Foundation awards, dubbed the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-06-11 07:21:43 UTC ]
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After the author events planning team at the Free Library of Philadelphia was fired on June 3, some of the authors scheduled to appear there this month are expressing their support for the former employees—some quietly, others publicly. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers say investments in book promotion to augment publishers’ in-house staff are key to successKatherine Reay has written a dozen novels. When The Berlin Letters, her most recent, hit the shelves earlier this year, she embarked upon a 30-stop promotional book tour.“I love the personal... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-06-07 11:30:48 UTC ]
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BNN Breaking had millions of readers, an international team of journalists and a publishing deal with Microsoft. But it was just an A.I. chop shop. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-06 04:00:25 UTC ]
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The work of late queer author Fritz Peters has fallen off the radar and out of print—leaving room for a small Los Angeles production company to pick up rights to the books, reissue five of them, and fast track the process of adapting them into films. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 380 authors, publishing houses, and advocacy groups have signed an open letter protesting "vague and overbroad" new South Carolina education standards, slated to take effect on June 25. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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From heartfelt rom-coms to reproductive health primers to middle grade sci-fi, we're rounding up some of our favorite May books by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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He starred in Peep Show, Green Wing and Wonka – and his first novel won an award. Now the star is making operas with 64 homeless people. Not bad going for someone who was written off by his teachersPaterson Joseph is, by his own admission, an unlikely opera librettist. He had turned 50 by the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-27 04:00:13 UTC ]
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