Beowulf grappling with Grendel

What Beowulf can teach us about AI-generated content

Summary: Listening to Beowulf exposes you to “kennings,” which are vivid, unexpected expressions — usually a pair of words — that put a different spin on a name or concept. Unlike AI’s predictable phrasing, creative language like kennings breaks linguistic patterns, making content more engaging, memorable, and uniquely human. While I was heating the pan…

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Android school

Training AI to Understand Relevance: What Every Business Needs to Know

Summary: AI struggles with relevance realization, a human ability to prioritize meaning across contexts. Businesses should evaluate AI systems’ relevance handling, integrate human feedback, and ensure human support for key interactions. In the beginning of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” Evelyn Greenslade (played by Judi Dench) has just lost her husband. In the midst of…

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Gorilla playing basketball

How “relevance realization” distinguishes human intelligence from artificial intelligence

(I just noticed that the lady on the right has three legs! Thanks, Midjourney!) Summary: Computers don’t understand relevance, and it’s unlikely they will any time soon. “Relevance realization” is what sets humans apart from AI, and “general artificial intelligence” won’t happen until someone solves this. Remember that fun video where the kids are throwing…

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Woman in kitchen with robot

When AI agents take over: the effect on content creation, distribution, consumption, and licensing

Summary: AI agents will revolutionize the entire content industry by allowing users to customize and access content in their preferred format — whether text, audio, or video. AI will also manage complex licensing agreements, which means that publishers must adapt to protect and monetize their content in this new landscape. The entire process of content…

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pretty teacher with a book

Book summaries, the revolt of the left hemisphere, and artificial intelligence

Summary: AI summaries of books and articles present a copyright threat to publishers, but a wider movement towards summaries and bullet points might have more significance for culture and for understanding. Bo Sacks recently distributed an article titled, “A tech sector dedicated to boiling things down has raised temperatures in some quarters of the publishing…

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Paul Atreides working on a laptop

Warnings from Dune about artificial intelligence

Summary: This article highlights the cautionary tales about artificial intelligence (AI) in popular science fiction, including “Dune,” “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and “I Robot,” which all warn against the potential dangers of AI rebellion. It emphasizes the importance of balancing the drive for innovation with the need for caution. While recognizing the divergent views on…

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Woman blogger

Publisher fears over amateur content are coming to fruition

Summary: Following the lead of Troy Young in his latest email, the author discusses the evolution of the internet from a “seek” model to a “be served” model, characterized by AI-driven and personality-driven content delivery. It highlights the challenges content creators face in getting compensated, especially in the AI-driven model. The piece also reflects on…

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Multidimenstional matrix

The cool but scary future of e-newsletters

Summary: AI models can significantly assist content creators by analyzing customer preferences on a website catering to different audiences. By categorizing users and utilizing natural language processing to extract keywords and trends, AI can generate detailed reports or even write articles, offering personalized content based on current interests, while also introducing variety to avoid content…

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Editor using AI

Things to test when editors use AI

Watch here Summary: The Daily Maverick’s experimentation with ChatGPT-3 revealed useful insights for AI application in journalism. They focused on creating article summaries and images, emphasizing the need to determine summary goals, accuracy, length, and style. The process must account for article structure, tone, and publication identity. They highlighted challenges like AI hallucinations and effectiveness….

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