www.extremetech.com/extreme/143382-programmer-creates-800000-books-algorithmically-starts-selling-them-on-amazon
com%2Fextreme%2F143382-programmer-creates-800000-books-algorith mically-starts-selling-them-on-amazon&locale=&layout=box_count&action=l ike&width=50&height=60&colorscheme=light When we think about writing books, especially the technical kind, we think about a person or small group of people hunched over their keyboards typing away. There's a good reason for that mental image: that's how the majority of books are written. Philip M Parker, a marketing professor at INSEAD, has a patented system for algorithmically compiling data into book form. Thanks to Parker's system, Amazon now has over 800,000 books for sale from his company. Other organizations pay for this service to compile data for their reports, so the system clearly has flexibility.
The funny part is that the books don't even have to be written yet. Thanks to digital distribution and print-on-demand solutions, a whole new book can be generated on an incredibly obscure topic as soon as someone buys it. The system will be able to compile an entire book on the subject in the range of ten minutes to a few hours. This video below features Parker himself explaining how the process works, and why it's useful.
spam-like purposes, but it does also have benefits to traditional writing outside of the amazing speed. Specifically, he points out that in the case of very rare diseases, it's unlikely that any books would be written in the first place. Especially when you're looking at statistics and data, having a computer compile and find potentially significant data is very useful. While the books won't be particularly creative, they absolutely do have a place.
com/embed/SkS5PkHQphY The technology isn't just for books. When you're focusing on areas like developing and distributing content all over the world in dozens of languages, traditional manpower isn't exactly efficient. Humans just don't have the ability to translate content to that many languages in a time and cost effective manner. Using this system, it is possible to spread information to places that used to be impossible to reach. Computers won't be replacing humans for writing the great American novel or entertaining the masses on TV, but it is obvious that computers will be an increasing fixture in the analysis and translation of content. This is a perfect complement to human creativity -- not something for creatives, researchers, or consumers to fear.
com/WhoAreYouWhatAreYouDoingHere Chris Shakal Didn't even know that was a thing. For example, the book on "suspenders" actually just prints out anything that uses any form of the word "suspend." Eg, the suspension of civil rights or a machine that uses a suspended bar. com/droope123 * Verified _ I didn't have to read the book to realize this. It might have been better to read the book before writing about this eh. If there's a dime to be made with this, and i would say there's more then that, this is going to work sooner then later even if it doesnt work now. seatacwebdesign his voice almost sounds like a robot's (is this a common stereotype of computer nerds). I can picture a group of "cyberbullies" having a contest to see much emotional harm they can create in a short period of time with such technology... they'd auto scan social profiles for vulnerable people and autopost messages & content about them to try and drive them right to suicide. just an example of evil in mass quantities you could create with such power. If the books are horrible' as someone said, well, he could be right I didn't confirm but it would still have to be a leap in the right direction for this kind of thing to be successful. I don't see how a tool like this would make that type of harassment any worse, or have the slightest thing to do with that scenario. Jim Bumgardner "This is a perfect complement to human creativity -- not something for creatives, researchers, or consumers to fear." It seems you are reviewing the *idea* rather than the *implementation*, which stinks. Vitaliy Semerenko I am just waiting for the lawsuit .............
com/10/2012/can-robots-really-write-nove ls/ Cheers Phil ps most of the "books" are used by businesses in narrow markets, and are econometrically estimated, not compiled from internet sources. The bibliographies, timeline, health and langauge books were created from a request from a library consortium. Since we do not have access to this system we can't make an independent review but can assume it will be like all the other automated systems. Remember those automated robots that keep trying to walk through a wall because they do not understand any better ? This will most likely create a similar problem as spam mail but in the market of books. Another greedy person exploiting an outdated system and by doing so destroys it for everyone, * Vidya Wasi You sir have created a spam bot. Since we do not have access to this system we can't make an independent review but can assume it will be like all the other automated systems. Remember those automated robots that keep trying to walk through a wall because they do not understand any better ? This will most likely create a similar problem as spam mail but in the market of books. Another greedy person exploiting an outdated system and by doing so destroys it for everyone, * Amedee d'Aboville You don't seem to know what he actually did. He's taken databases full of tables and combined with econometric analyses to provide market information on hundreds of topics. Which will save humanity thousands of hours compiling reports about these topics. Look, "The 2007-2012 World Outlook for Wood Toilet Seats" sounds boring to you and may qualify as spam, but to people in the business, it's essential to know what the trends are. His only "fault" is in putting his content up on amazon, where it seems like people are expecting "Books" whereas he's providing business reports, which are more economically valuable and more expensive. PhilipNicolcev Your response to the criticism looks like it was generated by a bot. com/lompikko sebastian what's the difference to wolframalpha? ee mail Well , at least we should congratulate him for the attempt. Imagine, if sources of information are of acceptable quality and if the computers intelligence is improved substantially, then hey , all the information I want will be available . But needs to improve so as to present the info in a book form. com/madhi19 John G So it a stupider version of a search engine that you have to pay for. com/people/Jim-Phong/100001178973449 Jim Phong So he is selling scam created by bot algorithms... The people who buy his books' know what they are getting. Rafal Gwizdala This is totally insane - who would buy a paper compilation of google search results? And I thought books are the last spam-free information source.... id=1223563048 Angel Ham He could earn hundreds of millions of dollars if the words "Entitled spoiled teenager girl falls in love" with a gay-looking heterosexual immortal boy" become a priority in his book-making algorithm. com/alien8752 Mark Fergerson Please, everybody, quit the paranoid snarking about spambots; Parker has written an expert system that specializes in writing technical reports. It's one of the most boring, stifling jobs ever (if you're not fascinated by the material). It's exactly the sort of task that we humans *should* give over to computers. I don't hire people to write tech reports, but when I research a tech topic for my own uses I do what everyone else does; I use search engines, libraries, talk to people, and make notes, then collate the notes for readability according to my own mental indexing algorithm. If Parker's algorithm can do better than mine I might pay money to save me the effort, as long as his algorithm can access a similar breadth and depth of sources. That said, the article feels a little bit as if it were written by such a system- just kidding, Grant, I meant you wrote as if you were trying to emulate Parker's algorithm! Guest Cool, yes, but I can copy and paste from a database well enough not to really need this. com/joey89924 joey we can't make an independent review but can assume it will be like all the other automated systems....
|
http://csua.com/feed/