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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Shonda Rhimes is the creator of the TV shows 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Private Practice,' and 'Scandal.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo's self-publishing platform, Kobo Writing Life, is launching an affiliate program for self-published authors with PW Select, a monthly digital newsletter and print supplement to Publishers Weekly magazine focusing on independently published books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Partnering with HarperCollins's academic marketing division, Avon (which is a trade imprint at HC), is opening its editorial doors to submissions from undergraduate and graduate students. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Lebanese-American novelist Rabih Alameddine discusses the need to both belong to and be estranged from a culture in order to be able to effectively evoke it in literature. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Suzanne Collins says she 'sort of completed' a goal of hers this fall by releasing her children's book 'Year of the Jungle,' which examines war from a child's point of view. Collins wants to write a book about war for every child age group, she says. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week's web buzz takes in the troubled relationship between traditional publishers and startups, the death of Small Demons, writer dads, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Popular authors including George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Kate Atkinson and David Nicholls are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series of childrens' books has died, her publisher Random House announced. Park, 66, had ovarian cancer.Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series of childrens' books has died, her publisher Random House announced. Park, 66, had ovarian cancer. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died at her home in London on Sunday, her publisher announced. She was 94.Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died at her home in London on Sunday, her publisher announced. She was 94. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A literary talent show is about to be aired in Italy, but is television the right place to nurture literary talent?Jonny Geller, agent and joint CEO, Curtis BrownAn X Factor for books is about to launch on Italian TV – it had to be Italian, didn't it? – and you can imagine the literati running... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To support Indies First, scores of authors will be working in indie bookstores on Small Business Saturday. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IFC's upcoming The Spoils of Bablyon, a comedy miniseries that spoofs serious miniseries, is based on a book that seems to be sold out in Hudson News stores around the country. The problem with keeping the book in stock, though, is that there were never any printed copies. Eric Jonrosh (and the... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google's Books project, which has indexed millions of titles and made them available online, hasn't always been on completely solid legal footing. After all, Books operates without the permission of authors, which has understandably drawn some ire from copyright holders, not to mention other web ... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A U.S. judge has thrown out a long-standing copyright infringement case brought against Google by the Authors Guild, saying the company’s book-scanning project provides significant benefits to the public. Judge Denny Chin, formerly of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A debut novelist who spent nine years trying to get her first book published is rewarded for her persistence with a £10,000 literary prize for original fiction. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan has acquired five self-published and two unpublished novels by bestselling ebook... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's publishing company News Corp. swung to a profit in its fiscal first quarter -- its first financial reporting period as a stand-alone company -- but revenue slipped nearly 3%. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-publishing, despite its community's diversity of style and material, may need awards and other 'gatekeeping' devices for coherence in the marketplace. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins reported a decline in quarterly revenue with total sales down 7%, to $328 million, for the first period ended September 30, 2013. EBITDA, however, rose 8%, to $43 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On the last day of the inaugural China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), held from November 7-9, the winners of the Golden Pinwheel Awards were announced. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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