The Computhor Cometh
When computers start writing their own books, who will be their readers? November 2013
In 1838, Edgar Allen Poe wrote a satirical essay, “How to Write a Blackwood Article.” It parodied the formulaic nature of 19th-century magazine writing by invoking one of the most popular periodicals of its day. After listing a variety of possible “tones” in which articles could be written (didactic, enthusiastic, elevated, diffusive and interjectional), the fictional editor advised:
The tone metaphysical is a … good…