This week’s AI news all falls firmly into the “what’s it done now?” category I mentioned last week.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
I’ll start with the most “normal” of developments—if it is possible to talk of normal in such times. Nextory, one of the Nordic streaming services we’ve heard less from in recent months, has decided that AI best serves its purposes in a curatorial role.
Specifically, it wants to use AI to play a librarian-style role, helping readers and listeners discover their next favorite book. Instead of using algorithms to suggest books, it will use data to power an in-app chatbot that users can talk to like a trusted friend to find the right next book for them, asking it for suitable suggestions.
The Nextory press release cites a fascinating figure: more than a quarter of 18–29-year-old Swedes struggle with reading because they don’t have a good way of finding the right read for them.
Agatha Christie as Writing Coach?
And speaking of trusted friends—for a writer, especially a crime writer—what friend could be more trusted than the great lady herself, Agatha Christie? Imagine if we could ask her directly for tips to hone our craft. Funny you should ask, because that’s exactly what the latest in the BBC Maestro masterclass series seeks to do.
It will feature an AI-generated resurrection of Christie herself, in the role of writing instructor, based on text from her writings and letters. Her estate seems to be on board.
Bots That Outsmart Humans
And finally we come to the Reddit experiment that seems designed to terrify anyone not yet convinced of the truly nightmare potential of AI in the wrong hands. Scientists at the University of Zurich sent undercover AI bots onto a subreddit dedicated to debate to see how effective they could be at changing people’s minds—using AI to get to know their interlocutors and tailor arguments to them.
And it turns out they were a lot more effective than human debaters, persuading more people and gaining more upvotes than their human counterparts. When the scientists outed themselves, people unsurprisingly—not least people in the scientific community—got seriously mad.
I would surmise that when they calmed down and went home, they then got seriously scared.
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