Tag Archives: artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence and publishing: promises and threats

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Artificial intelligence is upending all of society. Looking specifically at the publishing industry, artificial intelligence is changing the way people write and how the written word gets to the consumer. I have written a brief overview of AI’s implications for writing anything from student papers to professional works. They run the gamut from improved efficiencies to downright scary social problems. Similarly, AI is upending the publishing business. It offers both promises of improved efficiency and threats of havoc and chaos. I have also written about artificial intelligence in libraries. Artificial intelligence is just the latest in a centuries-long parade of disruptions in publishing. Looking at history can show us the patterns that will likely continue.

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Artificial intelligence for writing: promises and problems

Reading, Writing, Research Posted on by 4

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest in a long series of technological upheavals that have changed society forever. Artificial intelligence for writing has recently become more visible through OpenAI’s introduction of ChatGPT. It is a free software service. (GPT, by the way, stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.) Anyone can use it by entering a prompt. ChatGPT then produces a piece of writing while you watch. Supposedly, it can write on any subject. It can write prose or poetry. And it can do it much faster than any human can. Not only that, it can translate from one language to another. It has naturally raised fears that artificial intelligence can replace human writers. That seems unlikely, but it also seems unlikely that any writer can avoid it for very long. It will bring new opportunities, but it will also cause problems.

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Artificial intelligence and libraries

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I found another tiresome article about how the library is more than books. It mentioned several kinds of new technology in libraries. One especially caught my attention. One library has its own robotics lab. So I wanted to see if any other libraries did. My search for “robots in libraries” instead turned up eye-opening information about artificial intelligence and machine learning. As it turns out, the topics of robots and artificial intelligence are not as unrelated as it might seem. Artificially intelligent robots may actually become library patrons someday! If rubbing shoulders with them seems too much like science fiction, artificial intelligence already poses social benefits and threats. Libraries will have to learn to deal with both.

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