Publishers Weekly
10/23/2023
British children’s writer Stanton (The Story of Matthew Buzzington) recounts in this quirky outing his efforts to test ChatGPT’s authorial skills by asking it to “tell me a story about a blue whale with a tiny penis.” He reproduces an edited transcription of the ensuing back and forth, accompanied by copious footnotes commenting on storytelling craft and his thoughts about working with the program. Thanks to Stanton’s outlandish prompts (“Tell me a story of how Benny was resurrected in an underwater cave a hundred years after his death and how his resurrected tiny penis could glow and cure sea creatures”), the absurd AI-generated narrative follows Benny the whale as he learns to accept his penis’s tininess, dies, then becomes sanctified by warring underwater religious sects. The real draw, though, is Stanton’s breakdown of ChatGPT’s craft. He’s thrilled when the program includes eccentric, unprompted narrative details, as when it “slyly implies a rich backstory” by observing that there were “even a few octopuses” at Benny’s funeral, but concludes the technology is fatally hampered by a debilitating reliance on cliché and repetitive syntax. The irreverent tone buoys a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of how AI might aid artists, and the ways in which it comes up short against its human competitors. This fascinates. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
‘There’s no book like it. Scholarly, childish, fascinating and hilarious – one of our funniest writers dissects what it takes to build a story and what that tells us about being human. It’ll really make you think, if you can stop laughing.’ —Chris Addison, co-creator of Breeders
'Entertaining and alarmingly relevant, provocative and philosophically satisfying, it’s ultimately a profoundly human text.'—Observer
‘A magnificent experiment by a perfect fool – deep and shallow and stupid and clever – the perfect use of AI (Andy Intelligence).’ —Robin Ince, author of The Importance of Being Interested
‘In detailing his hysterical efforts to get ChatGPT to write a masterpiece, Stanton offers real insight into how it works or, well, doesn’t.’ —New Scientist
'It's sometimes hard not to feel sorry for the priggish chatbot as Stanton deploys all his impish (some might say puerile) irreverence to goad the programme... Ultimately, however it is there, in Stanton's footnotes that the real genius of the book is found. For all the hilarity and absurdity, it asks profound questions about the relationship between humans and machines... you'll be hooked on the conundrum that is AI. There really is no turning back.' —Perspective
'Benny the Blue Whale is many things. It’s a fascinating discourse on the nature of language and storytelling. It’s a philosophical treatise on the possibilities of artificial intelligence. It’s a receptacle for obscenely hilarious jokes, and the abstruse and arcane learning that fills Stanton’s brain... A brilliant and beautiful cyborg: part human brain, part computational muscle. It’s a post-post-modern work of genius.' —Anthony McGowan, Carnegie Medal-winning author of Lark
‘A funny and surprising creative battle between man and machine.’ —The Bookseller
‘The real draw, though, is Stanton’s breakdown of ChatGPT’s craft... The irreverent tone buoys a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of how AI might aid artists, and the ways in which it comes up short against its human competitors. This fascinates.’ —Publishers Weekly
Anthony McGowan
'Benny the Blue Whale is many things. It’s a fascinating discourse on the nature of language and storytelling. It’s a philosophical treatise on the possibilities of artificial intelligence. It’s a receptacle for obscenely hilarious jokes, and the abstruse and arcane learning that fills Stanton’s brain... A brilliant and beautiful cyborg: part human brain, part computational muscle. It’s a post-post-modern work of genius.'
Chris Addison
‘There’s no book like it. Scholarly, childish, fascinating and hilarious – one of our funniest writers dissects what it takes to build a story and what that tells us about being human. It’ll really make you think, if you can stop laughing.’
The Bookseller
‘A funny and surprising creative battle between man and machine.’
Robin Ince
‘A magnificent experiment by a perfect fool – deep and shallow and stupid and clever – the perfect use of AI (Andy Intelligence).’
