From Literature to Biterature
Lem, Turing, Darwin, and Explorations in Computer Literature, Philosophy of Mind, and Cultural Evolution
by Peter Swirski
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Pub Date Oct 30 2013 | Archive Date Oct 23 2013
McGill-Queens University Press | McGill-Queen's University Press
Description
From Literature to Biterature is based on the premise that in the foreseeable future computers will become capable of creating works of literature. Among hundreds of other questions, it considers: Under which conditions would machines become capable of creative writing? Given that computer evolution will exceed the pace of natural evolution a million-fold, what will such a state of affairs entail in terms of art, culture, social life, and even nonhuman rights?
Drawing a map of impending literary, cultural, social, and technological revolutions, Peter Swirski boldly assumes that computers will leap from mere syntax-driven processing to semantically rich understanding. He argues that acknowledging biterature as a species of literature will involve adopting the same range of attitudes to computer authors (computhors) as to human ones and that it will be necessary to approach them as agents with internal states and creative intentions.
Ranging from the metafiction of Stanislaw Lem to the "Turing test" (familiar to scientists working in Artificial Intelligence and the philosophy of mind) to the evolutionary trends of culture and machines, Swirski's scenarios lay the groundwork for a new area of study on the cusp of literary futurology, evolutionary cognition, and philosophy of the future.
Advance Praise
"Swirski's work is an accessible introduction to the domain of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the presumed emergence of computer-generated literature - a thought-provoking concept." Tomasz Lem, author of Adventures in the Field of Universal Gravitation
“From Literature to Biterature is the best thing that’s appeared since Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. At points fascinating, unsettling, and profound, Swirski effortlessly integrates philosophy of mind, robotics, literary studies, cultural trends, futurology, evolution, and many other areas of intellectual analysis. There is no other book like it.” Waclaw M. Osadnik, Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta
"Once I had a chess-playing computer that was programmed to comment on my moves. The greatest praise it could bestow on one of them was to inquire, 'Are you also a computer?' Is this an omen of our literary future? Will computers one day win not only chess tournaments but Pulitzer Prizes? Will biterature overcome literature? Peter Swirski thinks so, and he also thinks that Turing and Darwin have told us how it can happen. If his book inspires and provokes you as much as it did me, reading it is a move that even my chess computer would complement." Jaakko Hintikka, Department of Philosophy, Boston University
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780773542952 |
| PRICE | $29.95 (USD) |
