In 1962, a programmer at Librascope, a California-based defense contractor, announced that “a computer can be programmed to write meaningful and relevant sentences in proper English.” - The New Yorker

During the exam, students were pulling out phones and taking photographs of the test to submit to LLMs before copying down machine-written responses into their blue books. - The New Critic

Prodigy is among a bevy of gamified tools that have gained a foothold in classrooms across the country by promising to make learning fun. (As Prodigy’s website puts it: “Kids no longer have to choose between homework and playtime.”) - The Atlantic

Every great artist needs a nemesis - fictional or not! - in order to stand out. - Salon

“Musicians, artists and writers generally possess something AI does not, which is the lived human experience out of which they create. That experience includes the accidents, serendipities and epiphanies that shape our arts.” - KC Studio

I’ve written previously that one of AI’s enduring cultural impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing their mind. But lately, I believe, it’s the accelerated nature of the AI boom that’s driving people everywhere mad. - The Atlantic

We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. - The Dial

“If you want a deep dive into Chicago arts and culture, check your phone at the door: The ‘unplugged’ trend is growing locally among arts groups responding to a collective desire for more phone-free experiences.” - WBEZ (Chicago)

The head of France’s biggest film producer, Canal+, has said the group will no longer work with hundreds of cinema figures who signed a petition voicing concern over the growing influence of the rightwing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré. - The Guardian

Stanford has always been a haven for aspiring techies, but recent events have taken the school into uncharted territory. A.I. is everything. We talk about it at the dining halls and in history classes, on dates and while smoking with friends, at the gym and in communal dorm bathrooms. - The New York Times

As it turns out, tech jobs may be drying up after years of students rushing to computer science. Who needs to code? AI does that for you. What AI can’t do – yet – is the stuff that makes us human: empathy, emotion, psychology, critical thinking. - Irish Times

"In the new wall text accompanying a portrait of Mr. Trump, the impeachments are mentioned in a list of important events from the president’s first term.” - The New York Times

As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. - San Antonio Express-News

A growing number of UK music venues are attempting a simple but potentially transformative fix: giving bands somewhere to sleep. - The Guardian

Although he had gotten through the dress rehearsal well enough, the San Francisco Symphony’s Music Director Laureate had to be wheeled onstage for Friday’s performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony. He slumped ever farther to the right during the music, which was finally stopped during the third movement. - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)

“I should leave when I cannot do the job properly or when the board doesn’t want me to be here. I’m a workaholic, I’ve always worked. I don’t enjoy free time. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work. I need work. My life would be empty without work.” -...

So what can motivate tech barons to give money to opera? How do we convince them that, with their help, they can be a part of imagining a new, mind-blowing, future for opera, just as they have transformed the way we think and live with their innovations? We need to answer those questions if...

“Gelb, who is paid $1.2 million annually, oversees a $326 million budget. … Beyond the often caustic scrutiny of opera critics and patrons, Gelb must reckon with the demands of 3,000 full- and part-time employees, 15 labor unions and a 144-member board of directors.” - The New York Times

The major exhibition featuring collections from both institutions will be staged first in Paris at the Centre Pompidou, after its five-year renovation, around 2029 or 2030, before being hosted at the M+ with a focus on visual culture in France and China. - South China Morning Post

“If my art isn’t in your budget right now, I’ll accept the following as payment…” the viral posts on Instagram and TikTok read. The caption includes a list of items or services that the artist will trade the work for, ranging from handmade clothes, jewellery and tattoos to accommodation, meals and beauty services.  -...

Yes, the maybe-it’s-really-a-Leonardo Salvator Mundi is still number one, more than $200 million ahead of the runner-up, which made the list just last year. Meanwhile, the fourth-ranking piece set its record on Monday night. Fully half the artworks on this list were auctioned since 2020. - ARTnews

"The Paris office of STUDIOS Architecture will lead the project, which includes the creation of new galleries and a new lobby. … (The firm’s) recent portfolio includes the well-received renovations of the Frick Collection in New York and the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London.” - ARTnews

The San Francisco sky was lit Friday night with dozens of colored lasers beaming from the Transamerica Pyramid toward Coit Tower and One Sansome Street. - ABC7

The “living museum” will present a continuously evolving immersive, audiovisual experience based on millions of images, sounds and scents from nature. As an indication of what it will be like, Dataland’s website presents phantasmagorical images of ecological wonder and awe.

“Ross Barkan, who is a contract writer for the magazine, … has been accused of plagiarism after publishing at least three stories with striking similarities to other published work.” - NPR

Calling out lawyers for requesting more than $320 million in legal fees when each author only expects a $3,000 payout, some objectors asked the court to delay approving the settlement until a more reasonable plaintiff compensation plan is constructed. - Ars Technica

Stacey Levine’s Mice 1961, published by a very small press in Oregon, is "a deeply weird book, a kind-of coming-of-age comedy with no easy takeaway, full of twangy dialogue that reads like an alien in a human suit going ‘hello fellow Earthlings.’”  - LitHub

Was Greek literature a “cheat code” to the afterlife for Egyptian royals of Roman-era Egypt? - The New York Times

“Prior to the discovery of the Rome manuscript, the earliest one was from the early 12th century. So this is three centuries earlier than that. And so it attests to the importance that was already being attached to the English in the early 9th century.” - Seattle Times (AP)

Try returning to some things you cared about as a kid. - The Atlantic

The 79th Cannes may go down as the time the world’s grandest film festival for the first time wrestled with the onset of AI — its arrival has been felt like a tsunami on the French Riviera. - AP News

Showcase Cinemas has just announced that if anyone called Emily buys a ticket to see the film Finding Emily this weekend, they will receive a free medium-sized Coca-Cola in return. - The Guardian

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher says the network has to fill a gap of $8 million in its $300-million annual budget because of the elimination of federal subsidies for its member stations, which pay NPR to air programs such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered. - NPR

So why are celebrities suddenly registering trademarks in a bid to protect their identity? The answer, unsurprisingly, lies with generative artificial intelligence (AI). - The Conversation

Following the months-long awards campaign for It Was Just an Accident, which won the Golden Palm at Cannes last year and was nominated for two Oscars, Panahi returned to his homeland, as he said he would. Now the Islamic Revolutionary Court has ordered him retried for “propaganda against the regime.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“The open letter, published earlier this week to coincide with the opening of the Cannes film festival, was signed by more than 600 figures, including ... Juliette Binoche.” Now the head of Canal+ says the organization will no longer work with any of the signers. - The Guardian (UK)

Adam Sklute, who came to Salt Lake City in 2007, will depart at the end of next season. His tenure, the longest in Ballet West history, saw the company stabilize its finances, increase its subscriber base, triple its budget, and sextuple its school's enrollment. - KSL (Salt Lake City)

“Ballet can be a pretty conservative artform, with many companies trundling out Swan Lakes, Nutcrackers, and Cinderellas year after year. Every now and again, though, someone like Rojo comes along and truly shakes things up – even if that has meant ruffling tutus in the process.” - NPR

“For nearly three decades Cuba’s Danza Voluminosa regularly filled prestigious venues like the 2,000-seat National Theater. Directed by Juan Miguel Mas, the troupe pioneered a new movement by working exclusively with larger-bodied dancers. ... (Now) Mas’s daily life has been upended by persistent blackouts, water outages, soaring costs and a lack of transportation.” -...

LubDub is the fourth and final piece of Barton’s three years as Hubbard Street’s resident choreographer. “Asked to discuss the movement vocabulary she employs here, Barton demurred. But when the descriptor 'unruly' was suggested, she was quick to embrace it. …  (And) there are plenty of quirky, unexpected sights in the piece.” - WBEZ...

It’s not just a matter of advertising in the playbills; that’s been happening for decades. Van Cleef and Arpels has directly funded dance festivals in six cities on three continents, while Chanel sponsors a large biennial award to (among others) choreographers. But are there serious ethical issues tied to this money? - Dance Magazine

“I think the public’s relationship with dance has changed, to the point where for the generation coming up, dance is associated more heavily with TikTok than with the Royal Ballet. I think that is what has really opened up the doors and taken away the stigma.” - The Guardian

“Here, midsize theater companies help anchor the scene and bridge the gap between big playhouses such as the Guthrie and Children’s theaters and smaller companies. But as corporate, civic and private funding has dried up or shifted to other areas, they are feeling the heat.” - The Minnesota Star Tribune (MSN)

“Every number is a homage to at least one classic musical, and often two or three. Here, the hills are alive with the sound of pastiche; the plains and the valleys too.” - The New York Times

At least, according to The New York Times’s Helen Shaw. For instance: “When I think about the sheer old-fashioned ebullience of Cinco Paul’s Schmigadoon! — its compositional invention and depth of talent — I find myself hoping the voters will give it the laurel.” - The New York Times

This Tony-nominated actor is finding more theatrical work - and, let’s face it, likely better pay - as a member of the Savannah Bananas, playing a relief pitcher who comes on dressed as, and singing, the Phantom of the Opera. - The New York Times

Aleshea Harris: "It felt natural and inevitable because I am a very particular playwright. … I already have strong ideas and impulses about not just writing the thing, but helping people to understand.”  - The New York Times

Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing: “My ideal version is that the play starts without you noticing.” Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!: “People from my particular background, which is Saturday Night Live, which is sketch, work very quickly. There is no process.” - The New York Times

This was the third time the disgraced producer was prosecuted in Manhattan for his alleged assault of Jessica Mann in 2013. (The initial verdict, a conviction, was overturned on appeal.) This time, the jury deadlocked, with 9 of the 12 jurors reportedly leaning toward acquittal. - AP

The much-loved singer, admired equally for opera and concerts, passed away two days after she publicly revealed her terminal cancer diagnosis. - The Guardian

“Lindstrom, until the end of his life, was committed to portraying stories of trauma overcome. Though he possessed an exceptional grasp of cinema’s tools from cinematography to editing, Lindstrom’s greatest artistic gift was his blend of empathy and curiosity.” - Oregon ArtsWatch

The Twomblys’ granddaughter, Maia, discovered the negatives - and she has a new appreciation of the photographer: “I remember her now not as an 80-year-old woman, but as a 30-year-old. It’s like she is no longer my grandmother but my friend.” - The New York Times

“The estranged husband of a prominent New York City art dealer said he wished his spouse was dead before the co-owner of a contemporary art gallery was found stabbed to death in his Brazilian townhouse, a witness testified Tuesday as a murder-for-hire trial got underway in Manhattan.” - AP

“The French-born singer, actress and ex-wife of Andy Williams was at the center of a scandalous 1976 trial and media circus after she fatally shot her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Sabich.” - The Hollywood Reporter