from literature to biterature

7/25/2019 from literature to biterature

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Valentina ori Peter Swirski

University of Novi Sad McGills-Queen University Press

January !"# $ondon !"%

&'V(') *+FROM LITERATURE TO BITERATURE, P'.'& S)(&S/(

(n 0is 1ookFrom Literature to Biterature2 Peter Swirski2 a 3anadian aut0or and literary

critic2 talks a1out a new tec0nolo4ies and co56uters in t0e conte7t of literary works2 1ut also

reflectin4 u6on ot0er as6ects of 0u5an e7istence8 .0e entire title of t0e 1ook is From Literature

to Biterature:Lem, Turing, Darwin, and Explorations in omputer Literature, !"ilosop"# o$

Mind, and ultural E%olution w0ic0 ena1les us to see t0e to6ics w0ic0 will 1e covered and one

of t0e 5ain fi4ures are 30arles 9arwin2 :lan .urin42 and Stanislaw $e5 w0ic0 are 6ioneer

sc0olars of artificial intelli4ences8 .0is 1ook re6resents a 5i7ture of interdisci6linary studies2

1lendin4 issues of science2 5ind 60iloso60y and society8 :ccordin4 to t0e aut0or2 it is not a

scientific 1ook2 1ut instead2 it s0ould 6ri5arily rese51le an old-fas0ioned 1ook of discovery or a

5odern adventure story8 (n t0is way2 0e calls into ;uestion traditional ways of t0inkin4 and forces

us readers to 6ut our t0inkin4 ca6s on and dive into t0e future8 .0is 1ook covers a wide variety of

to6ics related to artificial intelli4ence and takes us on a ride into t0e future co51inin4 science

and wit8

.0e central to6ic ofFrom Literature to Biteratureis t0at in t0e near future2 co56uter-

aut0ors2 or

Under w0ic0 conditions would 5ac0ines 1eco5e ca6a1le of creative writin4? Given t0at

co56uter evolution will e7ceed t0e s6eed of natural evolution2 0ow will it affect art2 culture and

our way of life in 4eneral? &an4in4 fro5 Stanislaw $e5 to t0e @.urin4 test@ to t0e evolutionary

trends of culture and 5ac0ines2 SwirskiAs covers all to6ics w0ic0 include literary futurolo4y2

evolutionary co4nition2 and 60iloso60y of t0e future8 .0e 1ook consists of t0ree 6arts and eleven

c0a6ters divided evenly for ease of readin42 all or4aniBed in a cu5ulative way8 .0e first 6art of

t0e 1ook discusses t0e issues of co56utors0i6 and 6ossi1ility of literary creativity and ori4inality

of t0e co56uters2 second 6art 5ore focusses on t0e issues of t0inkin42 consciousness and variety

of test for deter5inin4 t0inkin4 of t0e 5ac0ines and t0e t0ird 6art focuses on futuristic

6redictions concernin4 usa4e of ro1ots in our everyday life8

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:s a central to6ic of t0e 1ook2 aut0or e76lores Stanislaw $e5s s6eculations on t0e future

of co56ut0ors0i68 Ce also clarifies t0e role of a co56ut0or 1ein4 a 5ac0ine w0ic0 creates an

ori4inal work of art8 Swirski also discusses an idea of aut0ors0i6 in t0e case of co56ut0ors andin w0ic0 way t0e royalties would 1e 6aid and to w0o58 .0ere is also a ;uestion of indirect

aut0ors w0o 5odify t0e work of t0e co56uter8 (f t0eres a 6erson 1e0ind a 6ro4ra52 0ow can a

co56uter 1e said to create a 6iece of writin4? .0is idea is e76ressed in a clear way wit0 a

nu51er of e7a56les2 w0ic0 4ives us a co56lete 6icture of t0e 6ro1le52 es6ecially if we co56are

it wit0 todays 5ac0ines for literary 6roduction8 .oday2 we 0ave 1ots and softwares2 1ut in 1ot0

cases 5ac0ines are only a1le to 5ani6ulate data and 4enerate infor5ation2 1ut t0ese are not

creative actsD t0e accu5ulation of data is not e;uivalent to t0inkin48 (n t0e future2 co56uters will

create works not only focusin4 on synta7 like today2 1ut will also incor6orate se5antic

understandin4 of t0e te7t8

*ne of t0e 5ost i56ortant conce6ts is also t0e conce6t of 1iterature2 w0ic0 is an ori4inal

6iece of literature created 1y 5ac0ines8 :ut0or clai5s t0at acknowled4in4 1iterature as a ty6e of

literature will involve ado6tin4 t0e sa5e ran4e of attitudes to co56uter aut0ors as to 0u5an

ones8 ,iterature will call into ;uestion traditional ways of t0inkin4 a1out art2 4enius2 creativity2

and i5a4ination8 .0e ;uestions t0at are t0e 5ost interestin4 are t0at t0e cate4ory of literature

will 0ave to 1e revised 1ecause co56ut0ors will 6roduce 1illions of te7ts every 5inute and t0e

critics will 1e Eust anot0er outdated tec0nolo4y2 accordin4 to Swirski8 (n t0is 6art of t0e 1ook2

Swirski askes a lot of ;uestions and leads us fro5 t0e one to6ic to anot0er in a ;uick way8

:ut0or 6layfully uses variety of ar4u5ents fro5 co4nitive sciences2 t0e evolutionary

sciences2 and 6syc0olo4y to descri1e t0e future state of artificial intelli4ence8 (n t0e near future2

we can e76ect co56uter aut0ors to evolve in a way w0ic0 is si5ilar to a natural evolution2 e7ce6t

5illions of ti5es faster8 .0ese co56ut0ors will not 1e li5ited in any way like 0u5ans are and it

is Eust a 5atter of ti5e w0en t0is kind of Frevolution will 0a66en8 Swirski takes us on a 5ake

1elief Eourney and e76lores w0at conditions would 5ac0ines 0ave to 0ave in order to 1eco5e

ca6a1le of creative writin42 w0at would 1e t0e literary2 cultural2 and social conse;uences of t0ese

ca6acities8 .0is is very interestin4 to 5e 1ecause 0e constantly 5akes a co56arison 1etween

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem


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co56uters and 0u5an 1ein4s and even ;uestions 0is 0u5anity2 at t0e sa5e ti5e considerin4

0u5anity of t0e artificial intelli4ence8

.0e 5ain to6ic for discussion is w0et0er or not a 5ac0ine can t0ink8 Swirski 5oves into

a second section on artificial intelli4ence and t0e 4uidin4 fi4ure 0ere is :lan .urin48 +or Swirski2

a co56ut0or needs to do 5ore t0an 6ass t0e an interro4ator s6eaks to a 0u5an 1ein4

and to a co56uter2 all t0ree se6arated and anony5ous2 and if t0e interlocutor cannot distin4uis0

answers 1etween t0e 6erson and t0e 5ac0ine2 t0en t0e 5ac0ine 0as 6assed t0e t0inkin4 test8

*nly learnin4 co56uters can 6ass t0e test2 all ot0ers fail to do so8

Cowever2 0e finds fallacy in t0is ty6e of test on 5any levels2 one 1ein4 t0at even so5e

0u5ans wit0 6ro1le5s wit0 intelli4ence or ot0er i56air5ents cannot 6ass t0e test8 .urin4

su44ests is to 0ave artificial intelli4ence en4ineers fas0ion co56uters as


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.0ou40t and volition are dee6ly intertwined8 9o co56uters want anyt0in4? (f not2 can t0ey 1e

5ade to want?

.0e last 6art of t0e 1ook discusses t0e future of war2 accordin4 to Swirski2 includes

co56uters a1le to 4o to 1attle2 Terminator-style2 and rec0ar4e 1y

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