‘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 ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child marks seven years in West End

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is marking its seventh anniversary at London’s Palace Theatre Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2023-07-30 06:50:32 UTC ]
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The UK’s IPG Announces AI Training for Independent Publishers

The UK's Independent Publishers Guild plans to have training in early October on issues and approaches in artificial intelligence. The post The UK’s IPG Announces AI Training for Independent Publishers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-07-25 17:09:49 UTC ]
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Google has a new AI tool for journalism—but should we trust tech to meddle in newsrooms?

Historically, big tech’s attempts to shape how the media operates have often done more harm than good. Google has a new plan to help save journalism—or at least make it easier for journalists to work. The company has been pitching a generative AI-powered product, nicknamed Genesis, to major... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-07-21 11:48:19 UTC ]
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The End of an Era at Penguin Random House

Layoffs, buyouts, and reorganizations abound as the largest trade publisher in the U.S. charts a future course. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Google testing AI tool that writes news articles

Tool is said to have been pitched to several US news outlets as an aid for journalists rather than a replacementGoogle is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can write news articles, in the latest evidence that the technology has the potential to transform white-collar professions.The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-20 12:04:29 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood among thousands of authors demanding compensation from AI companies

Margaret Atwood, James Patterson and Suzanne Collins are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging AI companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies. ... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-07-18 21:52:26 UTC ]
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James Patterson, Margaret Atwood among thousands of writers urging AI companies to honor copyrights

James Patterson, Suzanne Collins and Margaret Atwood are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging AI companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-07-18 20:54:45 UTC ]
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Layoffs Begin at Penguin Random House as Buyout Departures Come into Focus

Names of some employees who have accepted the publisher's "voluntary separation offer" are beginning to come out—even as a letter from Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya confirmed that long-rumored layoffs have become a reality. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Join the Brewing Legal Battle Over AI

Two new class action copyright lawsuits ramp up the growing scrutiny of large language models and other generative artificial intelligence tools. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers' Guild of Great Britain Publishes Report on AI

Sixty-five percent of those responding to a survey conducted by the U.K. union that represents writers in such professions as books, film, and said that they believed that the increased use of AI will reduce their income from writing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Anthropic releases Claude 2, a more capable, less gullible AI chatbot

Just five months after Anthropic debuted its ChatGPT rival, Claude, the company is back with an updated version that promises longer answers, more detailed reasonings, fewer hallucinations and generally better performance. It also now scores in the 90th percentile of graduate school applicants... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-07-11 16:00:53 UTC ]
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Animated GIF generator from Picsart makes AI fun again

Remember the early days of the AI hype train, when everyone spent their time making stupid images using text prompts? If you want to recapture the nostalgic haze of, uh, late 2022, Picsart has got you covered. The popular image editor just launched an AI-powered animated GIF generator.The major... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-07-03 17:59:35 UTC ]
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Chelmsford hospital defamation case ends in settlement and apology for claims in Scientology book

HarperCollins ‘sincerely apologises’ to doctor for claims about Sydney private hospital in ABC journalist Steve Cannane’s bookFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA long-running defamation case sparked... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-03 06:33:55 UTC ]
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Prince Harry asks for £440,000 in damages as phone-hacking case ends

If Harry wins he will have to thank legal precedent set by apprentice chimney sweep 300 years agoIf Prince Harry wins his phone-hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers he will have to thank a legal precedent set by an apprentice chimney sweep more than 300 years ago.The royal’s case... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-30 16:17:33 UTC ]
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Stop the press: Vienna newspaper Wiener Zeitung ends daily print edition after 320 years

One of the world’s oldest newspapers, the Vienna-based Wiener Zeitung, is ending its daily print run after more than three centuries Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-06-30 10:46:38 UTC ]
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8 Great Books to Read About the Relationship Between Humans and Animals

These 8 books that explore the relationships between humans and animals in a variety of ways, including the personal and professional. Start with Birding While Indian: A Mixed-Blood Memoir by Thomas C. Ganno. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-06-29 10:35:00 UTC ]
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End-of-Year Celebrations That Rock

With the school year winding down, we spoke with three educators about how they help their students look back on what they've learned—and forward to a summer of possibilities—with special end-of-year celebrations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Cannes Today—AI obsession, Edelman stalked, Spike Lee's Cannes take and more

Welcome to Day Four of Ad Age’s Cannes Today newsletter. Reading online and want it delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here.  For real-time updates, follow our live blog. And see all our coverage here. Click here for a recap of Day Three. AI overload As everyone knows, unless you are... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2023-06-22 19:48:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media deals #global head #garett sloane #nielsen


Cannes Today—Twitter and Meta make pitches, Omnicom hooks up with Google AI and Grand Prix latest

Welcome to Day Two of Ad Age’s Cannes Today newsletter. Reading this online and want it delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here.  For real-time updates, follow our live blog. And see all our coverage here. Plus, click here for a recap of Day One. Twitter is beachless but bullish and Meta... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2023-06-20 20:38:54 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: Why AI won't be taking our cosmology jobs

The problem with studying the universe around us is that it is simply too big. The stars overhead remain too far away to interact with directly, so we are relegated to testing our theories on the formation of the galaxies based on observable data. Simulating these celestial bodies on computers... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-18 15:30:05 UTC ]
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