[Vwoolf] Woolf and AI

Gretchen Gerzina ozma at sover.net
Fri Jul 14 11:57:37 EDT 2023 

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Hi,
I watched Bernardine Evaristo's speech in real time. You can view it here:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHg2v3Rq0ZM__;!!KGKeukY!2iVLre_HzaRaG-n_ZRjbyFzmeZaC5GziAxCeXx3lUSnI8Udh9IQzUrEDJBsbDXBfEX3QRGU46G2XJEw$ 

Gretchen Gerzina


Today's Topics:


1. Woolf and AI (Jane deGay)
2. Woolf and AI (Jane deGay)
3. Re: Woolf and AI (Christine Froula)




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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:11:43 +0000
From: Jane deGay <J.deGay at leedstrinity.ac.uk <mailto:J.deGay at leedstrinity.ac.uk>>
To: vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>
Subject: [Vwoolf] Woolf and AI
Message-ID:
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Happy Friday, Woolfians


Here's a Woolf sighting for you. Bernardine Evaristo, President of the UK's Royal Society of Literature has given a speech warning of the threats to literature posed by ChatGPT. She gives the example of asking GPT to write a sequel to Mrs Dalloway:




'Evaristo urged attendees to "understand" how the "polymathic" artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT - a chatbot that provides humanlike responses to questions and commands by drawing on internet data - will have an impact on "our precious literature culture". She said that the tool is in one sense a "parasitic, plagiaristic, rapacious super-brain", but that on the other hand it could prove to be "an incredibly useful tool that improves our lives".


'Evaristo described some commands she had fed ChatGPT, including coming up with a sequel to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, writing a love poem and penning a short story in the style of Evaristo herself, the result of which she called "awful and a little embarrassing". The author said that though the technology is "nascent", its "potential to improve is exponential", adding that a worst case scenario would be that "we stop thinking for ourselves and slowly become self-lobotomised".'
Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows | Books | The Guardian<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!xKBA9ogcSdrRZ15ZewuFepYa0GHz60p8f7hvdqJXr5rD58dYj_WV3ZTAp4eFWhYxHn2GZnKnBT0HnaB9et2VPuJVIiNx$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!xKBA9ogcSdrRZ15ZewuFepYa0GHz60p8f7hvdqJXr5rD58dYj_WV3ZTAp4eFWhYxHn2GZnKnBT0HnaB9et2VPuJVIiNx$> >


Best wishes
Jane
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:13:06 +0000
From: Jane deGay <J.deGay at leedstrinity.ac.uk <mailto:J.deGay at leedstrinity.ac.uk>>
To: VWOOLF listserv <vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>>
Subject: [Vwoolf] Woolf and AI
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Happy Friday, Woolfians


Here's a Woolf sighting for you. Bernardine Evaristo, President of the UK's Royal Society of Literature has given a speech warning of the threats to literature posed by ChatGPT. She gives the example of asking GPT to write a sequel to Mrs Dalloway:




'Evaristo urged attendees to "understand" how the "polymathic" artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT - a chatbot that provides humanlike responses to questions and commands by drawing on internet data - will have an impact on "our precious literature culture". She said that the tool is in one sense a "parasitic, plagiaristic, rapacious super-brain", but that on the other hand it could prove to be "an incredibly useful tool that improves our lives".


'Evaristo described some commands she had fed ChatGPT, including coming up with a sequel to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, writing a love poem and penning a short story in the style of Evaristo herself, the result of which she called "awful and a little embarrassing". The author said that though the technology is "nascent", its "potential to improve is exponential", adding that a worst case scenario would be that "we stop thinking for ourselves and slowly become self-lobotomised".'
Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows | Books | The Guardian<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!1lNgx8datrRe3fZHDD1AmmQxdfA66RqfqfYyDPUngsjwRaXXqklz6FWVjPywkm7fKZRufn_JrxXnqT-x-fQlKth6IVx48tpmq8uAqLj0$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!1lNgx8datrRe3fZHDD1AmmQxdfA66RqfqfYyDPUngsjwRaXXqklz6FWVjPywkm7fKZRufn_JrxXnqT-x-fQlKth6IVx48tpmq8uAqLj0$> >


Best wishes
Jane
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2023 06:44:56 -0400
From: Christine Froula <cfroula at northwestern.edu <mailto:cfroula at northwestern.edu>>
To: <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Woolf and AI
Message-ID: <db7a124d-931b-f7ad-9ebd-c14a7556f524 at northwestern.edu <mailto:db7a124d-931b-f7ad-9ebd-c14a7556f524 at northwestern.edu>>
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On the broader subject of AI and literature, this human mind-boggling 
report has, among other things, an account of an AI program's completion 
of a 6 word short story attributed to Hemingway. To my mind it 
highlights the difference between human imaginative genius and the 
algorithm's assiduously conventionalizing imitation.


https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-artificial-intelligence-future-60-minutes-transcript-2023-07-09/__;!!KGKeukY!x0gFSYTDniZ-ie00KvR19Ev3U_yr-Nc-zluhhJ6Sv7LJiuvtZHeoxptEgAorTZsUyb_zb6vovxWgnuu1Dcd2wiTufuo$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-artificial-intelligence-future-60-minutes-transcript-2023-07-09/__;!!KGKeukY!x0gFSYTDniZ-ie00KvR19Ev3U_yr-Nc-zluhhJ6Sv7LJiuvtZHeoxptEgAorTZsUyb_zb6vovxWgnuu1Dcd2wiTufuo$> 
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-artificial-intelligence-future-60-minutes-transcript-2023-07-09/__;!!Dq0X2DkFhyF93HkjWTBQKhk!S_v0sBBa00hNqwsRYUWYUW7WcAq-7thdYjYT-BaczDVAiKQDHkMnJNMTYTxLVqWaPjxLL_lvTMMrxj143ClFSTdz$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-artificial-intelligence-future-60-minutes-transcript-2023-07-09/__;!!Dq0X2DkFhyF93HkjWTBQKhk!S_v0sBBa00hNqwsRYUWYUW7WcAq-7thdYjYT-BaczDVAiKQDHkMnJNMTYTxLVqWaPjxLL_lvTMMrxj143ClFSTdz$>>


Christine


On 7/14/2023 4:13 AM, Jane deGay via Vwoolf wrote:
> Happy Friday, Woolfians Here?s a Woolf sighting for you. Bernardine 
> Evaristo, President of the UK?s Royal Society of Literature has given 
> a speech warning of the threats to literature posed by ChatGPT. She 
> gives the example of asking
>
> Happy Friday, Woolfians
>
> Here?s a Woolf sighting for you. Bernardine Evaristo, President of the 
> UK?s Royal Society of Literature has given a speech warning of the 
> threats to literature posed by ChatGPT. She gives the example of 
> asking GPT to write a sequel to /Mrs Dalloway:/
>
> ?Evaristo urged attendees to ?understand? how the ?polymathic? 
> artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT ? a chatbot that provides 
> humanlike responses to questions and commands by drawing on internet 
> data ? will have an impact on ?our precious literature culture?. She 
> said that the tool is in one sense a ?parasitic, plagiaristic, 
> rapacious super-brain?, but that on the other hand it could prove to 
> be ?an incredibly useful tool that improves our lives?.
>
> ?Evaristo described some commands she had fed ChatGPT, including 
> coming up with a sequel to Virginia Woolf?s Mrs Dalloway, writing a 
> love poem and penning a short story in the style of Evaristo herself, 
> the result of which she called ?awful and a little embarrassing?. The 
> author said that though the technology is ?nascent?, its ?potential to 
> improve is exponential?, adding that a worst case scenario would be 
> that ?we stop thinking for ourselves and slowly become self-lobotomised?.?
>
> Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it 
> announces 62 new fellows | Books | The Guardian 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!1lNgx8datrRe3fZHDD1AmmQxdfA66RqfqfYyDPUngsjwRaXXqklz6FWVjPywkm7fKZRufn_JrxXnqT-x-fQlKth6IVx48tpmq8uAqLj0$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows__;!!KGKeukY!1lNgx8datrRe3fZHDD1AmmQxdfA66RqfqfYyDPUngsjwRaXXqklz6FWVjPywkm7fKZRufn_JrxXnqT-x-fQlKth6IVx48tpmq8uAqLj0$>>
>
> Best wishes
>
> Jane
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Vwoolf mailing list
> Vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:Vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf__;!!Dq0X2DkFhyF93HkjWTBQKhk!SJLjvhCOBAhrx066RboR4w_cD8uCeK_HVPMzpJZ94A8OAspMxoY-2NgH0G8j5ddzcYHhEeQbNyYIs-z_TVzv4VuVFA$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf__;!!Dq0X2DkFhyF93HkjWTBQKhk!SJLjvhCOBAhrx066RboR4w_cD8uCeK_HVPMzpJZ94A8OAspMxoY-2NgH0G8j5ddzcYHhEeQbNyYIs-z_TVzv4VuVFA$> 
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