‘Where does the bot end and human begin?’: what the legendary @Horse_ebooks can teach us about AI

By reusing and repurposing existing writing into viral fragments on Twitter, the account functioned like today’s chatbots. The Guardian spoke to Jacob Bakkila, the human behind the accountMore than a decade before an AI-powered chatbot could do your homework, help you make dinner or pass the bar exam, there was @Horse_ebooks. The primitive predecessor to today’s chatbot renaissance began as a Twitter account in 2010, tweeting automated excerpts from ebooks that, decontextualized, took on unexpected and strangely poetic meanings.Purportedly a spambot, the account surfaced quotes from ebooks that went viral for their absurdist fragments – phrases like “Hello saxophone,” “COULD THIS BE THE”, and “Today we are lucky to be talking”. It amassed more than 200,000 followers at its peak and now, despite being inactive for a decade, the account still holds 131,000 followers. Its most memorable quip – “everything happens so much” – still resonates today. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-03 15:00:04 UTC ]
News tagged with: #ebooks

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Springer CEO Says "Free Beer" Era for Internet Ending

(Reuters) - Germany's largest newspaper publisher will introduce a paywall for its flagship national daily Die Welt by the end of this year and is confident competitors will follow suit, Axel Springer Chief Executive Mathias Doepfner said. In an ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones to sell Paperwhite 'end of the month'

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones begins new branding push

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agreement Could End Europe’s E-Book Price-Fixing Inquiry

The European Commission said it was prepared to drop its investigation after Apple and four publishers agreed to let retailers sell ebooks at a discount for two years. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Wants DOJ to Wait Till End of Trial for Settlement With Three Publishers

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[ PC World | 2012-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alternate endings for Hemingway novel revealed

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Anniston Star to End Monday Edition in October

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cambridge University Press ends printing after 400 years

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Academic library staff ‘should teach’

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Strikes Deal to End Litigation With French Authors and Publishers

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[ PC World | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Six-year Google Books spat ends

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[ BBC World | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MPA President and CEO Nina Link Stepping Down End of 2012

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[ Folio Magazine | 2012-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The End of Leadership' peddles the idea of an impotent industry

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The End of Illness

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[ Slate | 2012-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Fast Company | 2012-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The New York Times | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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