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Weekly Newsletter 26 January 2024

This Week Merchant Taylors’

The Herrick Debates the Future of AI in Literature Writes Shay Nagda (Divisions) Last week’s meeting of the Herrick was my first

The discussion quickly shifted to more abstract and philosophical considerations, questioning whether a book’s emotional impact and message are weakened by the knowledge that it has not been written by a person. Can AI be considered the most human thing of all, since it is comprised only, and comprehensively, of human information and concepts? We concluded that the capability of AI currently demonstrates greater proficiency than we may have anticipated when it comes to writing fiction. Interestingly, most of the attendees were unable to tell the difference between AI generated text and a human author. However, we also found that this proficiency only applies to more simplistic or formulaic genres, such as crime thrillers. When challenged to write with emotion and symbolism, we found AI to be somewhat stiff, and therefore have reason to doubt its potential in this arena. In closing, we found that AI is not likely to be able to replace human authors, rather, as AI continues to pervade our lives, it may even improve the popularity of reading and literature as a stronger means of human connection. This was a wonderful opportunity and I would like to thank Mr Hilton-Dennis for inviting me to present and the participants for such a lively and captivating discussion.

experience presenting to my peers, A-level students and teachers on a subject that is not only new to me, but new to many of us – the complicated relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the world of literature. On the surface, they seem to be polar opposites, yet AI has a very important place in the expansive world of authorship – an influence that will only grow exponentially. From moral dilemmas to copyright laws, the relationship between AI and literature is messy and tangled. In the session, we dissected the capability of AI to write novels, both by analysing examples and theorising about the future. Initially, we focused on practical considerations, debating whether AI has the potential to replicate human writing capabilities. Will the effects be helpful, or damaging to the publishing industry and to notions of authorship? How precisely can we draw the line between AI being used merely as a tool to aid the creative process versus being the creator itself? And can a work by AI be attributed as an individual’s intellectual property, if not, who owns the rights to publication?

September 29 2017

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