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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Stephen Mansfield, author of 'The Miracle of the Kurds' (Worthy Publishing, 9781617950797), will appear on 'Hannity' on Thursday, October 16. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon KDP's bestselling author of all time, Barbara Freethy, has started a new imprint to oversee publication of her books in print formats. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Frenchman has written about the German occupation of his country during World War II. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rick Strassman, author of 'DMT and the Soul of Prophecy' (Inner Traditions, 9781594773426), will appear on 'Coast to Coast AM' on Sunday, October 12. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Emily Perkins about imaginary worlds, acting and the ebooks v print debate. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mary Rasenberger, a lawyer and six-year Copyright Office and Library of Congress veteran, will take over as executive director of the Authors Guild on November 3. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The portal will provide self-service, updated information for agents on authors, including confidential sales data, for all titles published by HBG. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yochi Dreazen, author of 'The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in an Era of Endless War' (Crown, ISBN 9780385347839), will appear on NPR’s 'Diane Rehm Show' on Thursday, October 9. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian authors say the Hachette-Amazon fight is hurting U.S. sales, particularly for writers looking to break into the American market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amid a flurry of seven-figure deals igniting this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair—many for books by first-time American authors—a short Spanish novel has generated buzz, and some hefty advances. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Katha Pollitt, author of 'Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights' (Picador, 9780312620547), will appear on NPR’s 'Diane Rehm Show' on Wednesday, October 8. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild met with Justice Department officials to ask the agency to launch an investigation into Amazon, expressing concern that the retail giant might be violating antitrust law in its fight with Hachette over ebook terms. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The literary body, representing 9,000 authors, is calling on the US government to launch a competition investigation into Amazon, following the long-running dispute between the internet retailer and publisher HachetteAmericas Authors Guild has met with the US department of justice to call for an... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a message circulated to members, and shared with the public, the Authors Guild today confirmed that it hosted a meeting on August 1 between a group of authors and the Department of Justice, in an effort draw antitrust scrutiny of Amazon's practices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Howard Books, the Christian imprint of Simon & Schuster, will publish two new books by William Paul Young, author of the bestseller 'The Shack.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins is ramping up its direct sales efforts by offering authors who sell direct the chance to earn a higher royalty rate in the process. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charles M. Blow, author of 'Fire Shut Up In My Bones' (HMH, 9780544228047) will appear on MSNBC-TV’s 'The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell' on Thursday, October 2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jodi Picoult has inked a deal with Delacorte Press to co-write another YA novel with her daughter, Samantha van Leer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Osprey Publishing Group has sold imprints Watkins, Angry Robot and Nourish to US entrepreneur... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brazil is the country of honor at the Göteborg Book Fair and a trio of Brazilian authors reflect on having had their work promoted overseas these past several years. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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