While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important, which you might have missed, and try to include a bunch of resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Writers4Harris Event: Writing with Hope Again

Virtual event Sun. 9/8 2pm ET w Kate DiCamillo, Tayari Jones,

& Ann Patchett! There will be 4 events w 3 AMAZING authors each. Future events w Cheryl Stayed, Christina Baker Kline, Richard Russo, George Saunders, + more #AuthorsForKamala and #BookTheVote

https://secure.kamalaharris.com/a/jlojlzjrcghmzpsvrffr

SCOTUS ruling caused a *significant* drop in the percentage of Black students coming into highly selective colleges this year

https://x.com/ibramxk/status/1830356932554641708

Innovation

Google is developing AI that can hear if you’re sick

Health Acoustic Representations, or HeAR, is being trained on 300 million pieces of audio, including 100 million cough sounds, to learn to pick out patterns in the sounds. Salcit is then using this AI model, in combination with its own product Swaasa, which uses AI to analyze cough sounds and assess lung health, to help research and improve early detection of TB based solely on cough sounds. Between 3-4M cases of TB go unreported, according to UN-backed non-profit The Stop TB Partnership. If untreated, the mortality rate of TB is higher than 50%. “Every missed case of tuberculosis is a tragedy; every late diagnosis, a heartbreak,” Sujay Kakarmath, a product manager at Google Research working on HeAR, said in a statement. “Acoustic biomarkers offer the potential to rewrite this narrative.”

https://qz.com/google-hear-ai-model-development-sickness-tuberculosis-1851636663

Technology

Society of Authors writes to AI firms demanding ‘appropriate remuneration’ and consent for authors

The Society of Authors (SoA) has written to tech companies including Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Apple and Meta demanding they seek agreement from authors before using their work in the development of AI systems. The letter on behalf of the SoA’s more than 12,000 members asserts that “they do not authorise or otherwise grant permission for the use of any of their copyright-protected works’” in relation to the “training,” development, and operation of generative AI systems.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/society-of-authors-writes-to-ai-firms-demanding-appropriate-remuneration-and-consent-for-authors

Major Sites Are Saying No to Apple’s AI Scraping

This summer, Apple gave websites more control over whether the company could train its AI models on their data. Major publishers and platforms like The New York Times and Facebook have already opted out.

https://www.wired.com/story/applebot-extended-apple-ai-scraping/

OpenAI searches for an answer to its copyright problems

Why is OpenAI paying publishers if it already took their work?

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/30/24230975/openai-publisher-deals-web-search

SAG-AFTRA Wins Passage of California Bill to Limit AI Replicas

It addresses concerns over contracts w vague language potentially allowing unauthorized AI-generated performances + ensures that performers retain control over their digital replicas.

https://variety.com/2024/politics/news/sag-aftra-limit-ai-digital-replica-california-bill-1236120379/

LLMs are still far from challenging a top human creative writer

HT @ThadMcIlroy

https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.01119

AI textbooks and chatbots are already changing the way students learn. Should they?

New AI tools will be part of the curriculum at over 100 Canadian universities and colleges this fall

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ai-textbooks-education-1.7302095

Google’s custom AI chatbots have arrived

Google will soon let Gemini subscribers create custom chatbots that can serve as a gym buddy, cooking partner, editor, learning coach, idea brainstormer, career guide, coding partner, and more. Users can give the chatbots — called Gems — distinct personalities and specialties by simply describing a set of instructions.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/28/24230490/google-custom-ai-chatbots-gems-launch

Google Meet’s automatic AI note-taking is here

Google Meet’s AI-powered feature, “take notes for me,” has started rolling out today to Google Workspace customers with the Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or AI Meetings & Messaging add-ons

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/27/24229843/google-meets-automatic-ai-note-taking-launch

Adobe drops ‘Magic Fixup’: An AI breakthrough in the world of photo editing

https://venturebeat.com/ai/adobe-drops-magic-fixup-an-ai-breakthrough-in-the-world-of-photo-editing/

Will.I.Am launches AI-driven radio

The platform aims to “reimagine radio the way the iPhone did for the telephone”

https://www.nme.com/news/music/will-i-am-launches-ai-driven-radio-3787075

The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps

HT @benedictevans Via @a16z

https://a16z.com/100-gen-ai-apps-3/

Publishing & Media

NaNoWriMo gets AI sponsor, says not writing your novel with AI is ‘classist and ableist’

HT @PublishersWkly NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) started in 1999 to get writers to spend their November writing a 50,000-word novel. This year’s new sponsor is ProWritingAid, which has now added unspecified “AI” functionality. In an official position statement on AI, the organization declares: “We also want to be clear in our belief that the categorical condemnation of Artificial Intelligence has classist and ableist undertones, and that questions around the use of AI tie to questions around privilege.”

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2024/09/02/nanowrimo-gets-ai-sponsor-says-not-writing-your-novel-with-ai-is-classist-and-ableist/

You can now read Kindle books on a Peloton

ICYMI

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/20/24224501/kindle-peloton-ebooks-fitness

The tiny N.Y. town where bookstores rule

Nestled in the Northern Catskills, the tiny village of Hobart, New York, is home to around 400 residents, and millions of fascinating characters, all stacked high on shelves. Hobart is a book village. Within one brief block of Main Street, there are seven different bookstores.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/book-village-hobart-new-york/

Scotland: PRH UK’s ‘Lit in Colour’ Book-Vending Machine

The diversity-led ‘Lit in Colour’ program at Penguin Random House UK places a vending machine at Scotland’s Linlithgow Academy. #teamPRH

https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/08/in-scotland-prh-uk-installs-a-book-vending-machine/

Major Publishers, Authors Guild Sue Over FL Book Banning Law

FL House Bill 1069 violates 1st Amendment rights of publishers, authors,& students by forcing teachers, media specialists, and school districts to remove books or face penalties, including loss of licensure. #teamPRH

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/95823-major-publishers-authors-guild-sue-over-new-florida-book-banning-law.html

Resources & Opportunities

Discuss the Do’s and Don’ts of Career Pivots with with WMG Fundraising Co-Chair Carol Hoenig

WMG Members: Join the waitlist for this in-person dinner w Fundraising Co-Chair Carol Hoenig. 9/18 6pm.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5843584

Discoverability: Get Your Content/Services in Front of Your Target Audience

Join WMG for a tips-filled hour about improving the discoverability of your books, media, services, websites, or other content in a modern, noisy AI-powered marketplace. 9/19 6-7pm ET. FREE for WMG members; $15 for non-members.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5835394

Rewriting the Script: Empowering Women Beyond Gender Narratives

As women, our thinking, mindsets, and behaviors have been shaped by societal influences that often prevent us from reaching our full potential, leaving us feeling undervalued, underpaid, and unsupported in our growth. Using her deep research on Latina women as a model for all women, Valeria Aloe will address the entrenched remnants of machismo, colorism, scarcity, and ideas about femininity that have impacted all of us. A special segment of this session will offer an insightful overview of the Latino market and mindset in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

9/24 12-1pm ET via Zoom. FREE for WMG members; $15 for non-members.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5853120

Walk & Talk in Central Park with WMG co-President Jennifer Perry

WMG Members: Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to walk & talk with Co-President Jennifer Perry, a superb Central Park history buff. 9/28 10:30am.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5843548

Auction Item for WMG: “Should I Take the Express?” Photograph

Bid now on “Should I Take the Express?”—a limited edition photo by Dena Porter capturing a woman’s poised anticipation on a NYC subway platform. Own this powerful piece before the auction ends Sept 5 at 4:40pm! Proceeds benefit Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation.

https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/auction-should-i-take-express-photograph-3013701

Auction Item for WMG: ‘Cup & Color’ Coloring Event

Bid now for ‘Cup & Color’—an in-person workshop where you can unwind, sip tea, and color your emotions! 🫖🎨 Includes supplies, discussion, and pastries. Limited spots in NYC or join virtually. Auction ends Sept 5 at 4:40pm! Proceeds benefit Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation.

https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/auction-cup-color-coloring-event-a-mindful-coloring-3013700

Journalism Job Openings: The September List

Via @RebeccaAguilar

https://rebeccaaguilar.wordpress.com/2024/09/02/journalism-job-openings-the-september-list-2/

EveryLibrary to Host Free Banned Books Week Festival Virtually

Join us for over 25 panels with 45+ authors, publishing professionals, and experts on book bans and the First Amendment for “EveryLibrary Live! Banned Books Week 2024,” September 22 – 27 online. All events are free to attend. Meet and listen to authors like Julia Quinn, Jason Reynolds, Malinda Lo, Laurie Halse Anderson, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Stephen Chbosky, Maia Kobabe, and Paula Poundstone as they share about writing and how libraries matter in their lives.

https://www.everylibrary.org/elbb24

NYWICI’s Communications Career Conference 

There will be a Fireside Chat w Tammy Tibbetts (Co-Founder and CEO of She’s the First) and Dana Canedy (Managing Editor of Guardian US), and then a panel.

https://nywici.org/nywicis-communications-career-conference/

One World Hosts Landmark Banned Books Event Featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, & Many More

One World is producing a major event entitled “Free Your Mind: A Night to Celebrate Our Stories and the Freedom to Tell Them” on September 26, 2024, at the Martin Luther King Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA as part of Banned Books week. #teamPRH

https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/one-world-hosts-landmark-banned-books-event-featuring-ta-nehisi-coates-nikole-hannah-jones-dr-ibram-x-kendi-many-more/

Liz Tran at Creative Mornings NYC

MT @swissmiss Hey NYC, come start your day with an inspiring

@creativemorning talk by Liz Tran hosted at the beautiful @lallianceny space on September 13th at 8:30am. Don’t worry, we will hand you a coffee upon arrival! It’s free! (And there’s a livestream option too!)

https://creativemornings.com/talks/liz-tran

Penguin Random House UK launches mentoring program for under-represented creatives in publishing

#teamPRH

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/penguin-random-house-launches-mentoring-scheme-for-under-represented-creatives-in-publishing

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