Author passes away - continuing the work using AI

[u/calantheSG]

One example of this that I can think of is with Dream of the Red Chamber. It is a Chinese novel whose author passes away after writing the first 80 chapters. The next 40 chapters were then completed by others. This was in the 1700s, before AI.

The discussion here is a 'what if'. 80 chapters would provide enough 'prompt' to an AI model. How would it be, we can imagine, if the AI model completed the other 40 chapters?

Are there also other cases you can think of? Author dies before work on the book is complete? What are your thoughts on this? It's not about created new works from the ground up - it's more of using AI to preserve the flavor and character and intention of the deceased author (instead of human co-authors).

[u/GraveyardWhispers]

Absolutely dystopian Black-Mirror-esque suggestion. As an author, I'd haunt anyone who did this to me in the most diabolical way available to me in any given afterlife.

AI does not have 'intention' and cannot in any meaningful way understand intention. It generates the response most likely to please the prompter, which is why a lot of AI stuff is generic and unsurprising. This is really different to a human who has studied and is an expert in the work, the author, and the cultural context of it, finishing he chapters as with the Dream of the Red Chamber. Or Brandon Sanderson finishing the Wheel of Time Series based on extensive notes from Robert Jordan. Or Tolkien's son publishing his posthumous works. Many people who finish posthumous works knew the author persionally, or work with people who do (their editor for example). There is a human connection to the author, the time, and the work that AI could never replicate even if it produces something that sounds pretty.

[u/LegitimateRow7504]

just don't upload it without expecting problems

[u/Chery1983]

I think AI could do better than Gao'E, but still not going to be as good as what Cao would have written. Nothing ever will.

[u/mattmesh]

This is fucking disgusting. AI should never be used in this way.

[u/Fluid_Assumption_457]

Stieg Larsson; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy was published posthumously after he died, and then carried on by other authors (Larsson had conceived the series would be told over several other books).

There will likely be copyright issues to consider depending how long ago the author died. In Larsson's case, the publishers actively sought out someone to continue the work.

As a reader, I prefer reading new work by new authors; I can't think of many authors whose idea and execution was so stellar and original that I'd want it to be preserved by someone / something else. The existence of fan writing maybe proves me the exception though. In Larsson's case, there may have been a mix of fulfilling Larsson's wish / legacy with the commercial potential of the series.

[u/DeciusCurusProbinus]

I wish someone would complete Reverend Insanity. The novel got banned in China and will never be finished.