Will Robots Write the Next Great Novel?
Anyone over the age of 30 can’t help but notice how technology has crept into our lives. It begins by being an anomaly, then a convenience, and finally, a necessity. I learned to type in year nine on a manual typewriter. The kind that requires a powerful physical stab of one’s finger at each key as you force the machine to propel a metal rod up to strike the paper. In year ten, we had already progressed to electric typewriters. Still requiring a lot of force by today’s standards, we had to learn to control our strong fingers lest we trigger too many key strikes with each press. The year after that my family got our first personal computer and everything changed. Now, I can’t imagine having to use a manual typewriter or *gasp* writing a book by hand! But that was the norm less than forty years ago. Today, we have all manner of wordprocessors and computerized writing aids to allow us to optimize our writing style, whatever it may be. Our computers are fast and powerful. We have smart p