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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The longlist for the sixth Desmond Elliott Prize, which honours the best in debut fiction, is unveiled, with seven of the 10 novels by women. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple will have to pay three Chinese authors a total of $118,000 for stocking their books in its App Store without a proper say-so, according to China Daily. A court ruled that it was Apple's job to verify that third-party uploads met copyright requirements and that it had the means to do so... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-publishing has taken hold in the UK and two authors at the London Book Fair encouraged writers to consider DIY, offering observations and advice applicable to all. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors have called on the Venice Biennale to "mobilise intelligence and artistic talent... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian writer A S A Harrison, whose debut novel The Silent Wife (Headline) is due for worldwide... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Turkey's professionalized publishing industry is on full display at the London Book Fair with the hope that foreigners will take a greater interest in translations and trade. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut novelist Taiye Selasi, whose tale of a fractured family Ghana Must Go was published by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Staff at independent publishers have seen increases in pay and benefits over the last three years... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Porter Anderson assesses the Digital Minds Conference at the London Book Fair, where metaphors were in vogue, the end of copyright debated, and "speed" was the word of the day. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new James B. Hunt Library at North Carolina State University shows what can happen when you marry a library with cutting-edge technology and interesting design--plus an automated librarian. In a digital age where many commentators tolled the death knell for the book-bound library, we’ve... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British novelist Michelle Lovric and Strega Prize-winner Tiziano Scarpa are among a large group... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lebanese-Canadian author Rawi Hage, a featured speaker at this year's Abu Dhabi Book Fair, discusses his long, transcontinental path to becoming a novelist. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital revenue growth among online publishers in the UK is expected to grow by 15 per cent in 2013 according to the fifth annual organisation census by the Association of Online Publishers, while technology and data will play an increased role in re ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium's hypothesis has always been that people create better things when they work together. The publishing platform's newest tool helps its authors do just that. Biz Stone and Ev Williams' founding mantra for Medium, the publishing platform they launched last August, was, "People create... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hannah Sheppard, creative director at IPR License, reminds self-publishers that getting the basics right are key when pursuing international rights deals. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing news from Brazil: The London Book Fair will host a networking breakfast for those interested in Brazil, numerous international authors confirmed for Rio's book fair, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robyn Carr might not be a household name, but she’s certainly a force to be reckoned with on the bestseller lists. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster has partnered with CBS Outdoor to bring its author chef Lisa Faulkner’... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Society of Authors has criticised a decision by Pearson to change the way it pays some of its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It is one of the eccentricities of American publishing that James Salter has not been widely embraced as a great writer. His books are as good as those of post-war novelists like John Updike, Philip Roth, Richard Ford, and critics have often said so, and yet he is nowhere near as beloved or... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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