ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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On Writing, Feelings And What AI Does

Some say that what makes the difference between human and machine writing—and what taints the latter—is that machines do not think, or intend, or mean. Their compositions, allowing that they do compose, are therefore not minded or mindful, and it is this lack that gives them their taint, as properly it should. - The Lamp

Getting Classical Chinese Literature Before The English-Speaking Public At Last

“The Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature… was established (to provide) translations of literary works written in Chinese from the Zhou dynasty (circa 1046–256 BCE) to the end of the last empire, the Qing, in 1911, … (in) translations that are scholarly (without detracting) from the pleasure of reading.” - Los Angeles Review of Books

How AI Is Transforming Book Publishing

Due to the advent of online self-publishing platforms, what once required a team of professionals—editors, graphic designers, and formatting specialists—can now be done with just a few clicks. - The Future of Things

Controversy Over Removing Books From City Library Roils Alabama Town

 “There are two books they are leaving (in the teen section). There are some people not happy about that decision. They feel there is sexually explicit content in them. But our library board has reviewed that and didn’t feel that way.” - Alabama.com

Wikipedia Says It Won’t Replace Human Volunteer Editors With AI

Instead, the Wikimedia Foundation says it will use AI to build new features that “remove technical barriers,” allowing editors, moderators, and patrollers tools that allow them to accomplish what they need to do, without worrying about how to “technically achieve it.” - TechCrunch

What Does Working Class Literature Look Like?

Over the past two decades, the U.S. has seen a wave of books preoccupied with our working lives, many of them focused on white-collar office jobs. - The Atlantic

How “Gatsby” Became A Literary Institution

By some estimates, the total worldwide sales of the novel are now upward of thirty million copies. How did “Gatsby” grow so great, and why has it endured so long? - The New Yorker

Duolingo Doubles Its Number Of Language Courses Using AI

Duolingo says that building one new course historically has taken “years,” but the company was able to build this new suite of courses more quickly “through advances in generative AI, shared content systems, and internal tooling.” - The Verge

“AI Narration Is, In My Opinion, Immoral,” Writes David Sedaris

“I’m as interested in an artificial voice as I am in an artificial author, which is to say not at all. … This is the thing: you think it won’t come for you – but it will. Luckily, I’ll be dead or retired by then.” - The Observer (UK)

Majority Of Parents Don’t Enjoy Reading To Their Kids: Study

“Only 40% of parents ... agreed that ‘reading books to my child is fun for me’, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen and HarperCollins. (There’s) a steep decline in ... parents reading aloud to young children, with 41% of 0-to-4-year-olds now being read to frequently, down from 64% in 2012.” - The Guardian

The Iowa Town Where Every Other Person Seems To Be A Writer

Iowa City is the place where contemporary English literature matters more than anywhere else on earth. The home of arguably the world’s most famous MFA program, Iowa City has authors’ plaques embedded in the sidewalk, over 100 literary readings per year, and roughly 1,000 writers in a community of 75,000. - Public Books

New Indie Publisher, Conduit Books, Will Focus On Male Authors

Says founder Jude Cook, “Excitement and energy around new and adventurous fiction is around female authors – and this is only right as a timely corrective. ... (Yet now) stories by new male authors are often overlooked, with a perception that the male voice is problematic.” - The Guardian

British Sunday Newspaper The Observer Relaunches After Being Sold By The Guardian

“Editor-in-chief and major shareholder James Harding set out his stall in the first issue under its new Tortoise ownership on Sunday, (saying) the paper was leaning into traditions of liberalism and editorial independence which date back to its foundation in 1791.” - Press Gazette (UK)

Amazon Stomps On National Independent Bookstore Day With Big Online Sale

Independent bookstores and users on BookTok are expressing their frustration with Amazon while encouraging readers to stay off of the online shopping site and instead make the trek to their local bookstore for the day. - Fast Company

Trump Administration Threatens Wikipedia’s Non-Profit Status

“Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States." - Washington Post

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