AI Deep Learning
Is that what autocorrect is doing?
Today’s newsletter includes:
AI Deep Learning?
“Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor
BookSweeps WESTWORLD Contest
50% off “Read An Ebook Week” sale
What you can expect in my newsletters: musings on things I'm thinking about, an occasional short story, links to articles I enjoyed, updates on writing projects, books I recommend, freebies and deals I hear about, news, upcoming events where I'll be, and more.
Newsletters go out mostly monthly, usually on Saturday. I missed last weekend, but you’re getting this in time to catch the contest and the sale prices on a couple of my books.
AI Deep Learning…
Is that what autocorrect is doing?
It all seems so mysterious. What’s going on inside that artificial construct? Maybe there are acres of intense cores all zapping away, spitting billions of tiny sparks of lightning through the intricacies of its complex interior.
Machine.
Learning.
What is it studying?
One of my theories is that it’s learning by annoying harmless people like me. Because why else would autocorrect replace the word “is” with “OSS” 60% of the time? I had never used that term before, then it suddenly started messing with me one day.
My “has” always turns into “had”… and vice versa. I don’t mind that one because there’s a logic to it. But changing “can” to “Can” in the middle of a sentence is starting to bug me. Occasionally, the word “is”morphs into another variation of OSS. Sometimes, it’s “Os” or “OS’s” or just “OS”.
And then periodically, autocorrect makes “It’s” into “OSS” as well. It actually seems to have a lot of trouble with the word “It’s”. I’ve had so many different things thrown in to replace that word. Most of the time though, I don’t have the patience to pause and take a screenshot. I just need to get my message done.
Autocorrect can never get “Sorry” right the first time. It must have learned, after examining millions of texts, that people don’t apologize. Sort, sport, spot—I guess I need to learn to say I’m sport rather than sorry.
Some of them are pretty funny. “We” nearly always turns into “E we” and “…since it looks like you…” recently became “…since it spins Lille you…”
At least those are decipherable.
But who could make sense of “Odds Anton’s” or “Abbott Howe ITT OSS going”?1
Here’s the thing. When I’m texting, I’m not thinking about this issue, I’m focusing on what I want to say. I’ll correct two or three words that got switched on me and then after sending the message, I often find another mistake in it. Or something will look fine and it gets edited after I hit send.
Maybe it’s trying to get me to use the edit-after function which the iPhone added recently.
You see, I understand now, that I am the one being taught something. Autocorrect baits me, manipulates me, makes me chuckle, drives me crazy, tweaks and provokes me.
It’s learning about human behavior now.
From me.
“Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor
Binti is about a teenage girl who longs to grow beyond the village life of her people and gets accepted into a university program on a distant planet, something that her people have no interest in. On her way there, the ship is attacked by hostile aliens and she becomes the only survivor. Digging into her roots, she has to change drastically to survive and somehow find a way to to bring peace between the alien species at war.
My first impression
This is one of those books I chose because of its reputation. I was curious to see what it had to offer. I had the impression that it would follow the path of a young woman expanding beyond her childhood home and finding her place in a vast galaxy.
And I suppose that is what happened.
But the book was nothing like I expected. There was no gentle curve or building a sense of humanity's progress into the future. Early in the book, Binti has to make the jump from excited young student venturing out into the universe to lone captive among a heartless, violent, alien band.
Why I liked it
Binti is a powerful novel. It's way more than just sci-fi adventure. When I reached the end of the series, I spent some time pondering it, thinking about how it explored human struggles.
Binti wasn't just surviving. She resisted the enemy using tools from her childhood, relying deeply on her own strength of character. She found a way to build a bridge with the enemy, and became an ambassador for her own people and theirs. But it cost her. She was changed so thoroughly that she would never be the same again.
The second and third books continue the theme of the high personal cost of bridging worlds. Okorafor captures the importance of understanding who you are, where you came from, and the way your life shapes you.
The story hit me in a personal way. My childhood was severed from the past when our family moved to Mexico City and my little brother died in a tragic accident, shattering the family. I lost the shape and structure of my world and identity, except for the barest threads. Culture, language, competence, confidence, friends, extended family. Everything altered and I had to adapt to survive.
What I would change
There were a few places in the first book where I wished Okorafor had gone into just a little more detail about the world and cultures she created. But maybe it’s a good thing to leave the reader wanting more.
Type of read
Alien sci-fi adventure with rich and original world building that delves into trauma and survival.
BookSweeps WESTWORLD Contest
If you are a fan of Westworld and sci-fi about artificial intelligence, you won’t want to miss this contest!
I’m always looking for new authors that explore artificial intelligence and a contest like this is a great opportunity for that. Having one of my books in the set clued me into it— I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. And I’m glad to share it!
Entering to win is free and the prizes are really cool.
You probably didn’t realize it’s “Read an EBook Week”. In case you’re wondering what that means, it’s a COLOSSAL sale of ebooks at Smashwords. Two of my books are included and one of them has NEVER been on sale before!
If you liked “Body Suit” and want to read the next two books, “Nebulus” and “the Denser Plane”, both are on sale for 50% off this week only.
If you haven’t read it yet, you can check out BODY SUIT here. It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited.
NEBULUS on Sale
THE DENSER PLANE on Sale for the first time ever!
“Is anyone“ and “about how it is going”