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 Telegraph has claimed niche authors are being unfairly hit by Amazon’s self-publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brenda Peterson is one of the growing number of authors who are working on self-published projects in addition to writing books released by traditional houses. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MacLachlan, author of 'Sarah, Plain and Tall,' said she was inspired to write a picture book after talking with her friend, an illustrator who lives in Newtown. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Human Events, the venerable Washington-based conservative newspaper, will cease publishing its weekly print edition after nearly 70 years but will continue to operate its popular websites, the publisher announced Wednesday. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Porter Anderson's curation publishing buzz takes in the IndieReCon virtual conference, questions B&N's future, and looks atbuying your way to the top of the bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A debut author who graduated from the celebrated Iowa Writers' Workshop has a seven-figure book deal.HarperCollins announced Wednesday that it will publish Erika Johansen's Queen of the Tearling, a fantasy trilogy inspired in part by Barack Obama.A person with knowledge of the negotiations said... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Horrible Histories" author Terry Deary told a newspaper that public libraries are a drain on government resources that deprive authors of royalty checks. Best-selling childrens' book author Terry Deary has become the first major writer to speak up against the concept of public libraries. In... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debbie Ford wrote 'The Dark side of the Light Chasers,' a self-help book. Debbie Ford built on her self-help books to become a lecturer, teacher, self-help coach at the The Ford Institute for Transformational Training. Ford passed on Sunday. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors have admitted they welcome the “huge boost” in sales when their ebooks are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British writer Terry Deary, author of the 'Horrible Histories' children's series, says that libraries have 'had their day' and that there is no 'entitlement to read books for free.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even if the Meredith deal doesn't go through - and it should - Jeff Bewkes is out of the magazine business. Investors are partying like it's 2007. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Literary Platform and Bath Spa University have partnered on a new bursary for partnering... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House UK has released a video on YouTube showing some of its biggest authors, including E... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over the past eight years, more than 300 Florida middle and high school students graduated from aspiring writer to published author, thanks to the Océ Future Authors Project. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries across the country celebrated National Libraries Day on Saturday (9th February), the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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O’Reilly Media and Publishers Weekly will hold the first Author {R}evolution Day February 12 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Below is a discussion with co-chair Kristen McLean on what attendees can expect at the day-long event. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin-owned Author Solutions Inc (ASI) has opened a self-publishing imprint called Partridge in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Angry Robot has promoted Lee Harris to the position of senior editor, with immediate effect.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan SFF imprint Tor UK is now accepting direct submissions from authors, with editorial... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones m.d. James Daunt (above) has called on the government to address the issue... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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