Jean Harkin's Blog - Posts Tagged "elon-musk"
Extinction Threat or Novelists' Helper?
Alarms are sounding about the existential danger of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and language models. Even Sam Altman, the “godfather” of AI is concerned and has requested governmental, even international, regulations regarding this phenomenal new technology. Other high-level tech executives agree. Risks of AI include falsification of news, images, and information; transgressions to U.S. security; usurping of jobs for humans; scams of all kinds, and more.
Technology futurist Elon Musk has called for a six-month pause on AI development. Stuart Russell of “The Boston Globe” opined that hyper-intelligent AI is analogous to the invasion of an alien civilization beyond human control.
On the other hand, in a family discussion, we considered how AI might be a handy assistant to writers facing the “soggy, saggy middle” of their novels. This is often the most difficult part of a novel to plot and pace. A compelling beginning and a dynamite ending can leave a blank middle-ground for a writer. As a possible solution, the inspired parts of a story could be “fed” to a chatbot, allowing the AI to fill in the middle section. Of course, the writer should edit and revise the artificial text. This method might be a possible leap over writers’ block!
Price hike alert: Due to rising costs of printing, Amazon is leading the way for all publishers to raise prices on books this month. I have protested a price increase of my novel to $25, but to no avail. As a result, I will continue to personally sell copies of my novel “Promise Full of Thorns” for under $19. If interested, please contact me.
As for my short story anthology, “Night in Alcatraz and Other Uncanny Tales,” I am offering a few copies for sale at $3.79. If you would like a copy at this great bargain, let me know. Amazon has raised the price to $7.99.
Technology futurist Elon Musk has called for a six-month pause on AI development. Stuart Russell of “The Boston Globe” opined that hyper-intelligent AI is analogous to the invasion of an alien civilization beyond human control.
On the other hand, in a family discussion, we considered how AI might be a handy assistant to writers facing the “soggy, saggy middle” of their novels. This is often the most difficult part of a novel to plot and pace. A compelling beginning and a dynamite ending can leave a blank middle-ground for a writer. As a possible solution, the inspired parts of a story could be “fed” to a chatbot, allowing the AI to fill in the middle section. Of course, the writer should edit and revise the artificial text. This method might be a possible leap over writers’ block!
Price hike alert: Due to rising costs of printing, Amazon is leading the way for all publishers to raise prices on books this month. I have protested a price increase of my novel to $25, but to no avail. As a result, I will continue to personally sell copies of my novel “Promise Full of Thorns” for under $19. If interested, please contact me.
As for my short story anthology, “Night in Alcatraz and Other Uncanny Tales,” I am offering a few copies for sale at $3.79. If you would like a copy at this great bargain, let me know. Amazon has raised the price to $7.99.
