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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Stanley B. Prusiner, MD, author of “Madness and Memory: The Discovery of Prions—A New Biological Principle of Disease” (Yale University Press, 9780300191141), will appear on “Tavis Smiley” on PBS on Friday, July 25. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary agent Marly Rusoff is re-releasing, through her publishing imprint Maiden Lane Press, a debut novel by Jonathan Odell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Palahniuk is writing a sequel to his 1996 novel that will be in graphic novel form and released in 10 parts. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global profits at Scholastic Corp increased 31% to $107m (£62.9m) during the 2014 financial... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Numerous top authors are enlisting fellow writers to formulate a "long-term" strategy to combat Amazon's dominance of the market, writes The Bookseller. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, author of "Mama Doc Medicine: Finding Calm and Confidence in Parenting, Child Health, and Work-Life Balance" (American Academy of Pediatrics, 9781581108378), will appear on "Katie" on Tuesday, July 22. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has extended an olive branch to the newly formed Authors United group, and asked that the organization stop making statements that paint the e-tailer in a negative light as its terms dispute with Hachette drags on. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independently published authors have responded with caution to Amazon’s launch of its new... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors United, the group of writers who signed a letter calling on Amazon to resolve its dispute... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lisa Bloom author of "Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It" (Counterpoint, 9781619023277) will appear on "Dr. Phil" on Friday, July 18. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kenyan Okwiri Oduor has won the 15th Caine Prize for African Writing, often described as Africa’s leading literary award. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After To Kill a Mockingbird author denies Marja Mills's book had her approval, Mills and publisher issue counterclaimsNews: Harper Lee denies cooperating with Marja Mills on The Mockingbird Next DoorThe author and publisher of a new book about Harper Lee have stood their ground after the To Kill... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hillary Rodham Clinton, author of "Hard Choices" (Simon & Schuster, 9781476751443), will appear on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Tuesday, July 15. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the UK, the Society of Authors’ chief executive claims that traditional publishers’ terms 'are no longer fair or sustainable' for author's to make a living. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The story of how journalist Marja Mills came to know the 'To Kill A Mockingbird' writer Lee is being called 'witty' and 'charming.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has hit back at the American Author's Guild for calling its offer to temporarily give... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Allan Ahlberg refused a lifetime achievement award because it was sponsored by the internet bookseller Amazon. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has gone directly to authors 'hoping to gain hearts and minds – and leverage' in its dispute with Hachette. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chief executive of 9,000-member UK group argues that while 'authors' earnings are going down generally, those of publishers are increasing'After figures released this week showed professional authors' median annual incomes have collapsed to to £11,000, The Society of Authors' chief executive has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon recently offered Hachette writers 100 percent of ebook profits until the dispute between the publisher and the bookselling giant is resolved. The move prompted criticism from Hachette. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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