Searches on Amazon — estimated to control at least half of all U.S. book sales, and an even bigger share of the growing e-book market — are increasingly turning up mediocre AI-generated titles filled with unreliable information and soggy prose. - Axios
These tools are mainly targeting creators, who can use copyright-free music in their videos or podcasts. The developers are also hoping that musicians notice their tools and blend them into their sample or song-making process. - TechCrunch
In a warning letter, two attorneys allege that "NBC has exceeded the moral and legal limits permissible in a civilized society … (with) a pattern and practice of grotesque and depraved mistreatment of reality stars and crew members. … Please be advised that the day of reckoning has arrived." - MSN (Vulture)
“Work has come to a halt … The offer of European gigs simply dried up … My band simply can’t make any kind of living in the tiny UK market, so we basically have folded as a working band.” - The Guardian
The Wildensteins' business goes back five generations and 150 years; family members have always been secretive, even by art-world standards. But a lawsuit by a disinherited widow has uncovered what a prosecutor alleged is "the longest and most sophisticated tax fraud" in modern French history. - The New York Times Magazine
"Creativity can’t happen without sentience, and there are now arguments that some AIs are indeed sentient. If that is true now or in the future, then creativity might be possible. I view this possibility with a certain dreadful fascination." - The Atlantic
Josh Cook: "People use books to develop their morals, support and test their belief structures, come to conclusions about the state of the world, and make voting decisions. … Person to person, display to display, event to event, book sales have a real opportunity to shape … a more sustainable world." - Esquire
The blood’s memory really coursed through August. You also have to remember that the man read everything ever written—he was an autodidact. But he didn’t specifically research and say, “Okay, I’m writing a play about this era…” - American Theatre
Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government is replacing the directors at the country's landmark museums — a number of which, such as the Uffizi, have highly professional but non-Italian directors. In the wake of changes at the national broadcaster, some cultural leaders worry about a return of Mussolini-style policies. - MSN (The Washington Post)
The 1965 declaration was absolutist: "No to spectacle. No to virtuosity. No to transformations and magic and make-believe ... no to moving or being moved." Today she says, "Oh no. That was a certain point in art history. ... I never meant it as a doctrine to govern my decisions." - The Guardian
Northern Ireland's state arts funding body is reportedly reconsidering its support of the Metropolitan Arts Centre in the province's capital. MAC — which includes two theatres, three art galleries, a dance studio, and workshops — has had 2.5 million visitors since opening in 2012. - BBC
"For a long time critics couldn't stop talking about the 'next Fleabag' in a way that may have been constraining for other women writing frank, funny solo pieces about their messy lives." Natasha Tripney talks with three of those women at this year's festival. - The Guardian
You transpose it to Beirut. It was a complicated endeavor, especially (given the huge differences between Arabic and English) for the songs. But it worked — in fact, says the Arabic lyricist, "It's like it was written to be a commentary on the judicial system in Lebanon." - The New York Times
"(The film) Passages and its battle with the ratings system (are) another flash point in a long-running argument. ... Many question the value of the NC-17 in particular, given its infrequent use — and its disproportionate application, according to critics, to movies featuring queer or female sexuality." - TheWrap
"First and foremost, the firm notes that approximately eight-in-ten Americans (12+) listen to broadcast radio weekly. Weekly listening to radio has remained relatively steady in the last two years after dropping slightly in 2020. ... Weekly listenership dropped from 89% in 2019 to 83% in 2020." - Inside Radio
