Current Draft Stats
- Edited: 50%
- Characters Killed by Author: 8
- In-Frame Vampires: 0
BIG News
I am about to release a beta copy to select readers. All of you, my devoted minions, who have been steadfastly ignoring or deleting my emails (depending on your storage allowances), are going to get first dibs on this. Please reply to this email, and I’ll send you a link when it is available. That should be before the end of March.
Patter
I’d love it if you share interesting things that YOU are reading or doing. Send me a message about a great book you’ve just read or something else that other UF fans are likely to geek out about, and I’ll share it with my newsletter. BE SURE to sign the email the way you want your name to appear. Otherwise, I’ll make it anonymous.
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Currently Reading
The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity by Arthur I. Miller
An authority on creativity introduces us to AI-powered computers that are creating art, literature, and music that may well surpass the creations of humans.
Today’s computers are composing music that sounds “more Bach than Bach,” turning photographs into paintings in the style of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and even writing screenplays. But are computers truly creative—or are they merely tools to be used by musicians, artists, and writers? In this book, Arthur I. Miller takes us on a tour of creativity in the age of machines.
Miller, an authority on creativity, identifies the key factors essential to the creative process, from “the need for introspection” to “the ability to discover the key problem.” He talks to people on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, encountering computers that mimic the brain and machines that have defeated champions in chess, Jeopardy!, and Go. In the central part of the book, Miller explores the riches of computer-created art, introducing us to artists and computer scientists who have, among much else, unleashed an artificial neural network to create a nightmarish, multi-eyed dog-cat; taught AI to imagine; developed a robot that paints; created algorithms for poetry; and produced the world’s first computer-composed musical, Beyond the Fence, staged by Android Lloyd Webber and friends.
But, Miller writes, in order to be truly creative, machines will need to step into the world. He probes the nature of consciousness and speaks to researchers trying to develop emotions and consciousness in computers. Miller argues that computers can already be as creative as humans—and someday will surpass us. But this is not a dystopian account; Miller celebrates the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence in art, music, and literature.
Next on TBR Pile
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel by Michael Chabon (Author)
Current Research
Can ChatGPT write discharge instructions? Pick tests to run on Emergency Patients? Pick applicants to interview?
Current Coding
Soon, I’ll have to figure out how to have the same blog dynamically change based on the URL that it comes from
BookFunnel Promos
Until Next Time!
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