‘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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Why AI, revenue diversification and ad spend are the defining 2024 trends for media companies

Will Barker, manager, strategic customer success, BlueConic The media and publishing industry is constantly evolving. With this, it’s often difficult to keep up with the latest trends, especially with fast-evolving technologies emerging all the time and ripple effects remaining from the global... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-12-05 15:08:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media companies #revenue diversification #ad spend #constantly evolving #latest trends #global pandemic #publishing industry


Would I use AI to write my novels? I'd get better results from a monkey with an iPhone | Monica Ali

I asked ChatGPT to improve my latest novel and lost no sleep over the results. But I do worry about diverse voices being crowded out This summer two worlds – literature and technology – collided. News stories began appearing about authors suing OpenAI and Meta for using their works to train... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-12-01 06:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black box #monica ali #english pen #writing north #full version #pen transmissions


Can digital watermarking protect us from generative AI?

The Biden White House recently enacted its latest executive order designed to establish a guiding framework for generative artificial intelligence development — including content authentication and using digital watermarks to indicate when digital assets made by the Federal government are... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-11-30 18:45:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #security researchers #generative ais #nielsen


Amazon says its next-gen chips are four times faster for AI training

Amazon Web Services (AWS) just kicked off its Las Vegas-based re:Invent conference with a stream of announcements, most of which involve the year’s most popular technology, AI. These news items, taken as a whole, give us a sneak peek at the company’s long-term goals for... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-11-28 20:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #total cost #coming months #development team #similar approach #generate content #customer requests #betting big #market share #harry potter


Project Gutenberg Produced 5,000 AI Audiobooks, but How Do They Sound?

Project Gutenberg's AI audiobook project is yet another instance of AI encroaching on the book industry. But how do the audiobooks sound? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-11-22 11:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #project gutenberg #book industry #audiobook


How advertisers can deal with generative AI’s copyright conundrum

To what extent copyright law applies to generative AI tools is a legal gray area -- and cause for concern among companies using these tools for commercial purposes. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-11-20 05:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #generative ai #commercial purposes #copyright law


Arundhati Roy calls the siege of Gaza “a crime against humanity.”

In a video address to the Munich Literature Festival yesterday, the human rights activist and Booker Prize-winning author of The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy made a powerful speech in solidarity with the Gazan people, and with the millions around the world marching for a ceasefire. Roy—who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-17 17:42:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #powerful speech #prize-winning author #literature festival


IAC and News Corp call out generative AI companies for scraping their content without compensation

During News Corp’s and IAC’s latest earnings calls, the publishers reiterated their anger toward generative AI companies scraping their content without permission or payment — and what they think the next steps will be. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-11-17 05:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news corp


CEO of Hachette Book Group will step down at end of the year

The head of Hachette Book Group, Michael Pietsch, is retiring as CEO and will be succeeded by Hachette UK CEO David Shelley Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-11-14 20:46:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael pietsch #hachette


How to watch AI Book Club Night with authors Fei-Fei Li and Joy Buolamwini

Fei-Fei Li, author of "The Worlds I See," and Joy Buolamwini, author of "Unmasking AI," join the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-14 20:40:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #joy buolamwini #fei-fei li #unmasking ai #times book #book club


Why Reddit’s COO Thinks It Might Be AI-Proof

As artificial intelligence impacts the operations of digital media publishers, Reddit chief operating officer Jen Wong believes that the community platform might be one of the few companies insulated as a result of being focused on human interactivity and first-hand knowledge sharing. "We think... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-11-14 18:47:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital media


How Marketers Are Navigating AI’s Language Gap

When Mike Sotelo, vice president of digital content and experience at ad agency Alma, experimented with OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence tool GPT-3 in Spanish earlier this year, it wasn't long before he came across a language gap. Sotelo entered two prompts: "How does a guey [a... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-11-13 21:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vice president #digital content


Judge Will Toss Part of Authors’ AI Copyright Lawsuit

A federal judge said he will dismiss part of a lawsuit filed by a group of authors including comedian Sarah Silverman that claims Meta’s Llama AI application infringes their copyrights. However, a core claim of the suit—that Meta’s use of unauthorized copies to train its AI model is... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #federal judge #lawsuit filed #unauthorized copies


The death of Jezebel is the end of an era of feminism. We’re worse off without it

Websites like Jezebel revived feminism, showing the internet might have a re-radicalizing effect. Who will carry the torch?Jezebel is dead. After 16 years, the women’s news site, launched by Gawker Media under the editor Anna Holmes in 2007, shuttered for good this past week. Its most recent... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 12:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #past week #slow death #gawker media #media industry #sexual abuse #bad quarter #private equity #digital media


‘It is a beast that needs to be tamed’: leading novelists on how AI could rewrite the future

Novelists and poets, Bernardine Evaristo, Jeanette Winterson, Stephen Marche and others, consider the threats and thrilling possibilities of artificial intelligenceChatGPT seems to have blindsided us all. In less than a year it has proved that it can make writers redundant, which is one of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 09:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bernardine evaristo #jeanette winterson #stephen marche #writers guild #jodi picoult #creative writing #novelists


Column: She set out to build robots. She ended up exposing big tech

Joy Buolamwini, author of "Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines," joins the L.A. Times Book Club on Nov. 14. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-03 00:31:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #build robots #joy buolamwini #unmasking ai #times book


NWU Releases Platform and Principles for Generative AI Policy

The National Writers Union, the U.S. trade union for freelance and contract writers and authors, has identified six core principles and five key policy areas that will guide its organizing efforts around generative artificial intelligence. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade union #organizing efforts


Ending Censorship Applies to Prison, Too: A Prison Banned Book Week News Roundup, 2023

U.S. prisons have banned tens of thousands of books and remain the largest purveyors of censorship. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-30 10:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #banned book


Academic Publishing: Springer Nature Acquires Slimmer AI’s Science Division

The Dutch Slimmer AI's science division moves to Springer Nature in a partnership intended to support editors and research writers. The post Academic Publishing: Springer Nature Acquires Slimmer AI’s Science Division appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-27 11:34:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #academic publishing #research writers #springer nature


Scholastic Apologizes, Will End Controversial Book Fair Offering

After a public outcry, Scholastic this week said it will discontinue its optional diverse stories collection and pledged to "redouble" its efforts to "combat the laws restricting children’s access to books." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public outcry #scholastic #book fair