Story Machines: How Computers Have Become Creative Writers

Mike Sharples is Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK. He is the author of How We Write: Writing as Creative Design. His other works include Computers and Thought: A Practical Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and over 300 books and papers on artificial intelligence, computers and writing and educational technology.Rafael Pérez y Pérez is a full Professor at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana at Cuajimalpa, México City. He specializes in computational creativity, particularly models for narrative generation, and has led the Association for Computational Creativity. His works include MEXICA: 20 Years – 20 Stories, Creatividad Computacional and diverse papers on artificial intelligence and computational creativity. His website is www.rafaelperezyperez.com.

"A masterful and highly accessible overview of exciting developments in computer-generated literature by two experts in the field."Arthur I. Miller, author of The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity "Story Machines is a lot of fun to read. It’s a fascinating cultural and technological history of the centuries-long attempt to automate creative writing. It is also an exploration of what makes writing good: interesting characters; intriguing relationships; surprising events and plots; and aesthetically pleasing prose. Ultimately, Story Machines is about human creativity."Keith Sawyer, author of Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation"Software that writes stories? A fascinating insight into how computers are learning to replicate the power of human imagination. Sharples and Pérez y Pérez are experts in the field of computational creativity. Their insights into language, story structure and the replication of human creativity map a journey in which computers could create future stories that change behaviours and beliefs. The ethics of how these are enabled, engaged and deployed will be a debated for years to come."Vikki Kirby, Chief Storyteller, Vibrato Consulting"Stories have been computer-generated for decades by a curious assortment of programmers, artists, and authors. Mike Sharples and Rafael Pérez y Pérez tell their stories, providing a rich, broad history that will interest and inform anyone interested in the future of literary art."Nick Montfort, author/programmer of Golem

• Preface, Chapter 1. Can a computer write a story?, Chapter 2. Human story machines, Chapter 3. Artificial versifying, Chapter 4. Automatic novel writers, Chapter 5. The shape of a story, Chapter 6. The program that swallowed the internet, Chapter 7. Storyworlds, Chapter 8. Being creative, Chapter 9. Modelling the mind of a writer, Chapter 10. Build your own story generator, Chapter 11. Capacity for empathy, Notes, Further reading