Can a computer write a novel?

Author Robin Sloan is writing his book with the help of home-brewed software that finishes his sentences with the push of a tab key

Robin Sloan’s new novel, which is still untitled, is set in a near-future California where nature is resurgent. PHOTO: NYTIMES
Updated
Nov 21, 2018, 05:34 AM
Published
Nov 21, 2018, 05:00 AM
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BERKELEY (California) • American author Robin Sloan has a collaborator on his new novel: a computer.

The idea that a novelist is someone struggling alone in a room, equipped with nothing more than determination and inspiration, could soon be obsolete.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 21, 2018, with the headline Can a computer write a novel?. Subscribe

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