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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
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David Marsland and Rachelle Abbott

Jeanette Winterson: Could AI ever write its own original story?

Novelist Jeanette Winterson

(Picture: PA)

We know it can order groceries when your fridge is empty, turn on the lights in your house, even drive a car but could AI ever be smart enough to become an author?

Computing pioneer Ada Lovelace thought it wouldn’t happen because machines can only work with programming inputted by humans, but writer Jeanette Winterson disagrees.

Her new book 12 Bytes is an exploration of AI and the journey humans are taking to create a new kind of lifeform.

She tells the Leader podcast that computers could very well develop their own ‘imaginations’ but once they do, what kind of stories will they tell and would we want to hear them?

Listen here or wherever you stream your podcasts:

Jeanette is appearing at the Evening Standard’s Stories Festival, in association with Netflix. You’ll find the full line-up here.

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