Download or read book The Digital Aesthete Human Musings on the Intersection of Art and AI written by Alex Shvartsman and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today’s software can only imitate art, but what about tomorrow? Will true artificial intelligences be able to appreciate or even create art? Explore dystopian societies, where AI generates most of the content and human artists must eke out an existence, and utopias, where artificial minds help unlock and enhance human creativity. Delve into the minds of robot painters, AI poets, drone forgers, and electronic theater curators. These and other possible futures are imagined by award-winning and bestselling human authors from the USA, UK, China, Ukraine, Chile, Japan, Madagascar, Brazil, Czech Republic, and Sri Lanka. "In this impressive collection, a star-studded lineup of 17 authors assembled by Shvartsman (Kakistocracy) raise angst-ridden questions about human-AI collaboration. ... This smart, kaleidoscopic view into the digital future will have readers longing to log off." - Publishers Weekly

Download or read book The Digital Aesthete Human Musings on the Intersection of Art and AI written by Ken Liu and published by CAEZIK SF & Fantasy. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when AI takes over the creative process? Discussion about, and the use of artificial intelligence has exploded across the globe. Some programmers have already speculated that they are witnessing the birth of 'general' intelligence in ai which would be a game changer and decades before it was originally anticipated. Is this the next step, from robots taking over tedious repetitive tasks in factories to now taking over creative ventures as well? Here are stories that explore the relationship between artificial intelligence and art, written by top science fiction authors from across the globe. Read the tales of robot painters, AI poets, and electronic gallery curators; dystopias where human artists must eke out an existence in societies where AI generates most of the content, and utopias where artificial minds help unlock and enhance human creativity. This collection features a truly global perspective from top authors from USA, UK, China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Madagascar, Argentina, Chile, Czech Republic, and Sri Lanka.

Download or read book Vagabonds written by Hao Jingfang and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of Mars with their experiences on Earth in this “thoughtful debut” (Kirkus Reviews) from Hugo Award–winning author Hao Jingfang. This “masterful narrative” (Booklist, starred review) is set on Earth in the wake of a second civil war…not between two factions in one nation, but two factions in one solar system: Mars and Earth. In an attempt to repair increasing tensions, the colonies of Mars send a group of young people to live on Earth to help reconcile humanity. But the group finds itself with no real home, no friends, and fractured allegiances as they struggle to find a sense of community and identity trapped between two worlds.

Download or read book Today I Am Carey written by Martin L. Shoemaker and published by Baen Books. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: REMARKABLE DEBUT NOVEL FROM CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR MARTIN L. SHOEMAKER. Shoemaker proves why he has consitently been praised as one of the best story writers in SF today with this touching, thoughtful, action-packed debut novel, based on his award-winning short story Today I am Paul. TODAY Mildred has Alzheimer's. As memories fade, she acquires the aid of a full-time android to assist her in everyday life. Carey. Carey takes care of Mildred, but its true mission is to fill in the gaps in Mildred’s past. To bring yesterday into today by becoming a copy. But not merely a copy of a physical person. A copy from the inside out. I AM After Mildred passes, Carey must find a new purpose. For a time, that purpose is Mildred’s family. To keep them safe from harm. To be of service. There is Paul Owens, the overworked scientist and business leader. Susan Owens, the dedicated teacher. And Millie, a curious little girl who will grow up alongside her android best friend. And Carey will grow up with her. Carey cannot age. But Carey can change. CAREY Carey struggles. Carey seeks to understand life’s challenges. Carey makes its own path. Carey must learn to live. To grow. To care. To survive. To be. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for Today I Am Carey: "Kindness, love, and compassion make Carey an empathetic character through which to view Shoemaker's complex, beautiful world."—Publishers Weekly “. . . takes readers on a journey of self-discovery, coming of age, and ultimately life itself. . . . Carey’s development as a character is fascinating. VERDICT This exploration of artificial life in the vein of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot provides fresh insight into the human experience.”—Library Journal "Martin Shoemaker proves conclusively that while a science fiction novel must have the trappings of science fiction, it is at its strongest when it is about people, even an artificial (but emotional) person named Carey."—Mike Resnick “A dazzling ride through the near future. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”—Jack McDevitt “Martin Shoemaker is a rare writer who can handle the challenges of dealing with future technology while touching the human heart. This is a must-read!"—David Farland, New York Times Best-selling Author Praise for the work of Martin L. Shoemaker: "Martin Shoemaker’s ‘Black Orbit’ is a more conventional Analog adventure, and a very good example of such . . . a really solid story." — Rich Horton, Locus Online "['Bookmark'] is an exceptional example of how to discuss deep moral and philosophical issues while maintaining a tight narrative that brings the reader along. This story will be added to the required readings for my SF classes. – Robert L Turner III, Tangent Online

Download or read book The Middling Affliction written by Alex Shvartsman and published by CAEZIK SF & Fantasy. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dresden Files meets American Gods in New York City. What would you do if you lost everything that mattered to you, as well as all means to protect yourself and others, but still had to save the day? Conrad Brent is about to find out. Conrad Brent protects the people of Brooklyn from monsters and magical threats. The snarky, wisecracking guardian also has a dangerous secret: he's one in a million - literally. Magical ability comes to about one in every 30,000 and can manifest at any age. Conrad is rarer than this, however. He's a middling, one of the half-gifted and totally despised. Most of the gifted community feels that middlings should be instantly killed. The few who don't flat out hate them still aren't excited to be around middlings. Meaning Conrad can't tell anyone, not even his best friends, what he really is. Conrad hides in plain sight by being a part of the volunteer Watch, those magically gifted who protect their cities from dangerous, arcane threats. And, to pay the bills, Conrad moonlights as a private detective and monster hunter for the gifted community. Which helps him keep up his personal fiction - that he's a magical version of Batman. Conrad does both jobs thanks to charms, artifacts, and his wits, along with copious amounts of coffee. But little does he know that events are about to change his life...forever. When Conrad discovers the Traveling Fair auction house has another middling who's just manifested her so-called powers on the auction block, he's determined to save her, regardless of risk. But what he finds out while doing so is even worse - the winning bidder works for a company that's just created the most dangerous chemical weapon to ever hit the magical community. Before Conrad can convince anyone at the Watch of the danger, he's exposed for what he really is. Now, stripped of rank, magical objects, friends and allies, Conrad has to try to save the world with only his wits. Thankfully though, no one's taken away his coffee.

Download or read book Vita Nostra written by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Vita Nostra” — a cross between Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians” and Elizabeth Kostova’s “The Historian” [...] is the anti-Harry Potter you didn’t know you wanted.” -- The Washington Post “Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It’s a book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it get the global audience in English it so richly deserves.” -- Lev Grossman Best Books of November 2018 -- Paste Magazine The definitive English language translation of the internationally acclaimed Russian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way. Our life is brief . . . Sasha Samokhina has been accepted to the Institute of Special Technologies. Or, more precisely, she’s been chosen. Situated in a tiny village, she finds the students are bizarre, and the curriculum even more so. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, it is their families that pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want. A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction—brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey—is reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, Max Barry’s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, but will transport them to a place far beyond those fantastical worlds.

Download or read book The Cackle of Cthulhu written by Alex Shvartsman and published by Baen Books. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TOP AUTHORS POKE FUN AND PAY TRIBUTE TO H.P. LOVECRAFT'S CTHULHU MYTHOS. Knock, knock! Who’s there? Cthul. Cthul who? Exactly! I've come to tickle your funnybone. Oh, and also to eat your soul. In 1928, Weird Tales debuted “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos was born. In the 90 years since, dozens of writers have dared play within HPL’s mind-blowing creation—but never with such terrifyingly funny results. Now top authors lampoon, parody, and subvert Lovecraft’s Mythos. See Cthulhu cut short his nap at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to invade North Korea! Watch the Unspeakable Eater of Souls solve crimes on the pulpy streets of Innsmouth! And speaking of largish Elder Gods, listen to a plastic Elvis doll dispense folksy advice straight from the heart of the Emperor of Dread! Again Ol’ Tentacle-Face is confronted by frail humans who dare defy the Incarnation of Ultimate Evil—but this time not by brave monster hunters and terrified villagers, but by fan fiction writers, clueless college students, and corporate lawyers (okay, we realize it’s hard to know who to root for in that confrontation). Twenty-three mirthful manifestations within the Cthulhu Mythos from best-selling and award-winning authors Neil Gaiman, Mike Resnick, Esther Friesner, Ken Liu, Jody Lynn Nye, Laura Resnick, Nick Mamatas, and many more! Guaranteed to leave you howling. Because if you look at it just right, there’s nothing funnier than a soul writhing in cosmic horror before a tentacled maw of malevolence. As HPL himself saith: “From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.” Praise for the Unidentified Funny Objects anthologies, edited by Alex Shvartsman: “This book is a delight. There are a lot of giggles here, and every now and then you’ll laugh your head off. This is a hoot from start to finish.”—Galaxy’s Edge “Shvartsman delivers a wonderful anthology and if you want to broaden your humorous SFF reading, Unidentified Funny Objects is a great place to start.”— A Fantastical Librarian Praise for Alex Shvartsman: “Shvartsman is an entertaining writer who can take on many voices and make them his.” –Locus “Alex Shvartsman’s comedy is bright and direct with clever dialogue of both the inner and outer sort.”—Tangent Online Complete Contributor List: Neil Gaiman Jody Lynn Nye Mike Resnick Ken Liu Nick Mamatas Esther Friesner David Vaughan Kevin Wetmore Shaenon K. Garrity Brian Trent Alex Shvartsman Rachael Klahn Jones Yvonne Navarro Scott Huggins Gini Koch Aidan Doyle Konstantine Paradias Amanda Helms Laura Resnick Matt Mikalatos Laura Pearlman Lucy A. Snyder Original stories by David Vaughan, Jody Lynn Nye, Mike Resnick, Brian Trent, Yvonne Navarro, G. Scott Huggins, Gini Koch, Aidan Doyle, Amanda Helms, Laura Resnick, Laura Pearlman, Lucy Snyder, and Nick Mamatas. Reprints by Esther Friesener, Kevin Wetmore, Shaenon K. Garrity, Alex Shvatsman, Ken Liu, Rachael K. Jones, Neil Gaiman, Konstantine Paradias, and Matt Mikalatos. **

Download or read book Telematic Embrace written by Roy Ascott and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Telematic Embrace combines a provocative collection of writings from 1964 to the present by the preeminent artist and art theoretician Roy Ascott, with a critical essay by Edward Shanken that situates Ascott's work within a history of ideas in art, technology, and philosophy.

Download or read book Gunfight on Europa Station written by David Boop and published by Baen. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ALL-NEW STORIES TAKE THE WILD, WILD WEST TO THE FINAL FRONTIER An actual wagon train to space? Gunslinging cowpokes riding in rickety rocketships? What isn’t possible when you mix science fiction and Westerns? The final frontier ain’t so final in these 12 tales of space exploration and adventure: each a timeless yarn told around the warm glow of a nuclear reactor just before it goes supernova. There’s a story for everyone who’s ever dreamed of traveling the stars. From the lone stranger who flies into town to help a widow and her daughter to the alien rancher trying to pose as human, they are familiar, yet with completely new twists. Take the pair of mercenaries who sign on to stop a mining camp insurrection only to discover they might be on the wrong side of evolution, or the prospector who finds the strike of a lifetime but ends up stranded on a barren moon without hope of rescue. And if that’s not enough to catch your fancy, then how about a cloned Doc Holliday making his way in a future where both sickness and gambling are ancient history? Assembled inside are the biggest names in science fiction, taking you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy like they’ve never done before. Elizabeth Moon, Alan Dean Foster, Jane Lindskold, and Wil McCarthy are some of the exciting yarn-spinners inside. So get ready to hit the hyper-thrusters as you set course for adventure, mystery, romance, and two-lasergun slinging action! Featuring Elizabeth Moon, Alan Dean Foster, Jane Lindskold, Wil McCarthy, Gini Koch, Martin Shoemaker, Cat Rambo with J.R. Martin, Alastair Mayer, Alex Shvartsman, Patrick Swenson, and Michael L. Haspil. Edited by David Boop (Straight Outta Tombstone). About Straight Outta Dodge City: “A dark, diverting anthology of 14 original tales, the third in a series. . . . By tossing weird fiction concepts into western settings, these tales give rise to unusual what-ifs. . . . [T]he ever-enjoyable Joe R. Lansdale is on hand with 'The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train,' an energetic tale of a mystical gunfighter, and Harry Turtledove presents the delightful 'Junior & Me,' set in an alternate world in which evolution favored reptiles rather than mammals, and the ornery galoot narrating the yarn is actually a highly evolved dinosaur. The result is an amusing . . . bunch of stories.”—Publishers Weekly About Straight Outta Tombstone: “The authors were having fun. Even when they are not playing the stories for laughs, they are taking an opportunity to . . . tell a story with a fresh twist, and expand out of their expected boundaries.”—The Galveston County Daily News

Download or read book Funny Science Fiction written by Mike Resnick and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen of the funniest science fiction stories published in the past decade (2005-2015), featuring alien invasions, global conspiracies, time travel and even animal uprisings. Fiction by Hugo and Nebula award winners and nominees as well as talented newcomers. Stories were selected by the Unidentified Funny Objects series curator Alex Shvartsman.

Download or read book Cross Media Communications written by Drew Davidson and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is an introduction to the future of mass media and mass communications - cross-media communications. Cross-media is explained through the presentation and analysis of contemporary examples and project-based tutorials in cross-media development. The text introduces fundamental terms and concepts, and provides a solid overview of cross-media communications, one that builds from a general introduction to a specific examination of media and genres to a discussion of the concepts involved in designing and developing cross-media communications. There is also an accompanying DVD-ROM full of hands-on exercises that shows how cross-media can be applied. For the DVD-ROM: http: //www.lulu.com/content/817927

Download or read book The Future of Another Timeline written by Annalee Newitz and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A revolution is happening in speculative fiction, and Annalee Newitz is leading the vanguard."--Wil Wheaton From Annalee Newitz, founding editor of io9, comes a story of time travel, murder, and the lengths we'll go to protect the ones we love. 1992: After a confrontation at a riot grrl concert, seventeen-year-old Beth finds herself in a car with her friend's abusive boyfriend dead in the backseat, agreeing to help her friends hide the body. This murder sets Beth and her friends on a path of escalating violence and vengeance as they realize many other young women in the world need protecting too. 2022: Determined to use time travel to create a safer future, Tess has dedicated her life to visiting key moments in history and fighting for change. But rewriting the timeline isn’t as simple as editing one person or event. And just when Tess believes she's found a way to make an edit that actually sticks, she encounters a group of dangerous travelers bent on stopping her at any cost. Tess and Beth’s lives intertwine as war breaks out across the timeline--a war that threatens to destroy time travel and leave only a small group of elites with the power to shape the past, present, and future. Against the vast and intricate forces of history and humanity, is it possible for a single person’s actions to echo throughout the timeline? Praise for The Future of Another Timeline: "An intelligent, gut-wrenching glimpse of how tiny actions, both courageous and venal, can have large consequences. Smart and profound on every level.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "You close the book reeling with questions about your own life and your part in changing the future."—Amy Acker, actress (Angel and Person of Interest) At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book White Negroes written by Lauren Michele Jackson and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exposes the new generation of whiteness thriving at the expense and borrowed ingenuity of black people—and explores how this intensifies racial inequality. American culture loves blackness. From music and fashion to activism and language, black culture constantly achieves worldwide influence. Yet, when it comes to who is allowed to thrive from black hipness, the pioneers are usually left behind as black aesthetics are converted into mainstream success—and white profit. Weaving together narrative, scholarship, and critique, Lauren Michele Jackson reveals why cultural appropriation—something that’s become embedded in our daily lives—deserves serious attention. It is a blueprint for taking wealth and power, and ultimately exacerbates the economic, political, and social inequity that persists in America. She unravels the racial contradictions lurking behind American culture as we know it—from shapeshifting celebrities and memes gone viral to brazen poets, loveable potheads, and faulty political leaders. An audacious debut, White Negroes brilliantly summons a re-interrogation of Norman Mailer’s infamous 1957 essay of a similar name. It also introduces a bold new voice in Jackson. Piercing, curious, and bursting with pop cultural touchstones, White Negroes is a dispatch in awe of black creativity everywhere and an urgent call for our thoughtful consumption.

Download or read book Photography and the Art of Chance written by Robin Kelsey and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As anyone who has wielded a camera knows, photography has a unique relationship to chance. It also represents a struggle to reconcile aesthetic aspiration with a mechanical process. Robin Kelsey reveals how daring innovators expanded the aesthetic limits of photography in order to create art for a modern world.

Download or read book Avoiding the Subject written by Justin Clemens and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition.

Download or read book New Keywords written by Tony Bennett and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-29 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 25 years ago, Raymond Williams’ Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society set the standard for how we understand and use the language of culture and society. Now, three luminaries in the field of cultural studies have assembled a volume that builds on and updates Williams’ classic, reflecting the transformation in culture and society since its publication. New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society is a state-of-the-art reference for students, teachers and culture vultures everywhere. Assembles a stellar team of internationally renowned and interdisciplinary social thinkers and theorists Showcases 142 signed entries – from art, commodity, and fundamentalism to youth, utopia, the virtual, and the West – that capture the practices, institutions, and debates of contemporary society Builds on and updates Raymond Williams’s classic Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, by reflecting the transformation in culture and society over the last 25 years Includes a bibliographic resource to guide research and cross-referencing The book is supported by a website: www.blackwellpublishing.com/newkeywords.

Download or read book Time Travel Tales written by Zach Chapman and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-28 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From rampaging Tyrannosauruses to an army of duplicate versions of your future self, time travel is a genre where anything is possible. This anthology contains new time travel short stories, mixed with some of the best stories published this century, including New York Times best sellers, Nebula and Hugo nominated writers and winners, as well as some new talented authors (though, in our timeline they're already best sellers). Edited by Zach Chapman. Stories by Brian Trent, Catherine Wells, Sean Williams, Stewart C Baker, Robert Silverberg, HL Fullerton, Auston Habershaw, Brenda Anderson, SL Huang, Tony Pi, Steve Simpson, K Kazul Wolf, Rasheedah Phillips, Martin L Shoemaker, Alter Reiss, David Steffen, John A Frochio, Alisa Alering, Desmond Warzel, and Rosemary Claire Smith.