The Taipei International Book Exhibition has opened with Italy as the guest of honor. This year also sees discussions and activities involving AI.
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00:00Rows and rows of books inside Taipei's World Trade Center as the city's annual
00:05International Book Fair, one of the world's largest, begins. This year's fair
00:09showcases books from across the world, one of its core goals, cultural exchange.
00:30Running for six days, this book fair has in the past attracted over 500,000
00:48visitors, often including Taiwan's president. This year, no different, as
00:52President Lai Ching-de took part in the fair's opening ceremony, echoing the
00:56importance of the publishing industry and the book fair in spreading Taiwanese
01:00culture. Every year, the fair chooses one country as its guest of honor. This year
01:17is Italy, in part, officials said, because Italian culture is influential across
01:21the world, including in Taiwan. Their book fair pavilion was designed to feel like
01:26a town square, Italian books filling the walls. This year, the fair will also
01:31incorporate discussions about AI and its impact, and activities involving the
01:35technology. In this area, visitors can get a book written for them by AI. All
01:44they have to do is put in a few preferences on an iPad, and they'll get a
01:47short story passage like this. The organizers had Taiwanese authors think
01:51of new book ideas, and write around 1,600 characters introducing the books they
01:55came up with, which they then fed into ChatGBT, along with commands like
01:59include dialogue. ChatGBT generates a different passage for each visitor, based
02:04on which book title and which author they choose. As AI has become more widely
02:08used, many authors have raised concerns, warning it will threaten their
02:12livelihoods, and worrying their work could be used to train AI models who
02:15will then imitate their writing, with some even demanding compensation. But
02:20here, at the Taipei Book Fair, many were more optimistic, including the curator of
02:24this area, who doesn't believe AI will ever stop humans from writing.
02:46Another author, who writes children's picture books, said he feels writers can
02:50use AI as a tool, but need to find ways to use it constructively.
02:54With others, excited to see what new ideas the technology can produce.
03:24Whatever the opinions of the public, it's clear AI will be used more and more, as
03:28it becomes better trained, and as new models emerge, which will continue to
03:32impact writers, and the publishing industry at large.
03:35Justin Wu, and Caden Sciranta, for Taiwan Plus.