40 h. ago Meera Sodha: ‘I’m thrilled to have new ingredients in the kitchen’

Our cook on why she’s changing the way she writes her recipesSee Meera’s kimchi and cheddar okonomiyaki and Thai fried egg salad hereI’m like a giant panda in that 98% of what I eat comes from plants. It’s a long story, but the short version is that I love animals alive and vegetables on my plate.If I think about who I am and how I eat, I am built from Gujarati ingenuity and Lincolnshire produce when it comes to putting vegetables at the centre of the table. While I eat mainly plants, I do leave a little room in my diet for other things that I enjoy – a fish curry shared with my husband, Hugh, an omelette for a quick dinner, or tidying the edges of a hunk of manchego – and three of my cookbooks, Fresh India, East and Dinner, overall reflect that way of eating. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Sydney Sweeney to helm thriller based on English teacher’s viral Reddit short story

Short story follows a woman who pretends to be a missing girl so she can rob the latter’s family

Politics

1 week ago Beneath London: The Story of Alien War – New Short Documentary Releasing in April!

Beneath London: The Story of Alien War – New Short Documentary Releasing in April!  AvP Galaxy

Events

2 w. ago OpenAI’s story about grief nearly had me in tears, but for all the wrong reasons | Kathryn Bromwich

If Sam Altman’s new model were a creative writing student, you probably wouldn’t stop them pursuing other job prospectsLike all parents who pretend to be impressed by their children’s terrible art, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman proudly announced to the world that the company’s new AI model is gifted at creative writing. “This is the first time I have been really struck by something written by AI,” he enthused on X.The prompt was to write a metafictional literary short story about AI and grief. The story closely follows the instructions. The individual sentences mostly make sense. But – with the greatest respect to Jeanette Winterson, who called the story “beautiful and moving” – it is an atrocious piece of writing. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘A computer’s joke, on us’: writers respond to the short story written by AI

Sam Altman, the OpenAI boss, has declared its new model ‘good at creative writing’. We asked writers including Tracy Chevalier, Kamila Shamsie and David Baddiel if they agreeThis week has seen writers divided over a story written by an AI model that is “good at creative writing” – at least according to Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT company OpenAI, which is developing the new model. Author Jeanette Winterson, writing in the Guardian on Wednesday, agreed with him, calling the story – which is a metafictional piece about grief – “beautiful and moving”. We asked other authors to assess ChatGPT’s current writing skills – and what recent developments around artificial intelligence might mean for human creativity.Nick Harkaway is the author of Karla’s ChoiceTracy Chevalier is the author of The GlassmakerKamila Shamsie is the author of Best of FriendsDavid Baddiel is the author of My Family: The Memoir Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Stirling pals launch crowdfunder for new short story novel project

Heather Merrick first devised the book idea while on an Open University course - with her pal Katie Carmichael providing artwork as part of the ambition for the novel to be published.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘OpenAI’s metafictional short story about grief is beautiful and moving’ | Jeanette Winterson

I think of AI as alternative intelligence – and its capacity to be ‘other’ is just what the human race needsChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’‘A machine-shaped hand’: Read a story from OpenAI’s new creative writing modelI think of AI as alternative intelligence. John McCarthy’s 1956 definition of artificial (distinct from natural) intelligence is old fashioned in a world where most things are either artificial or unnatural. Ultraprocessed food, flying, web-dating, fabrics, make your own list. Physicist and AI commentator, Max Tegmark, told the AI Action Summit in Paris, in February, that he prefers “autonomous intelligence”.I prefer “alternative” because in all the fear and anger foaming around AI just now, its capacity to be “other” is what the human race needs. Our thinking is getting us nowhere fast, except towards extinction, via planetary collapse or global war. Continue reading...

Politics