AI No Threat To Authors, Says Salman Rushdie, 'Until It Can...'
Rushdie, who was speaking at the renowned Hay Festival in Wales, revealed that he has a simple benchmark for the safety of human authorship
At the renowned Hay Festival in Wales, celebrated author Salman Rushdie shared his signature sharp and humorous insights on the hotly debated topic of artificial intelligence's impact on creative writing. Known for his wit and pointed commentary, Rushdie, the acclaimed author of 'Midnight's Children" and his recent memoir 'Knife", reassured writers that they need not worry, at least for now. His simple benchmark for the safety of human authorship? The day a robot successfully crafts a genuinely funny joke.
'I've never tried AI," Rushdie said to the audience with a grin. 'I pretend it doesn't exist. It has no sense of humour; you wouldn't want to hear a joke from ChatGPT." He underscored his viewpoint, stating definitively, 'If there's ever a moment when ChatGPT writes a funny book, I think we're in trouble."
This appearance at the Hay Festival was one of Rushdie's most significant public engagements in the United Kingdom since the brutal stabbing attack he suffered in 2022, which left him blind in one eye. Despite this traumatic event, his characteristic resilience and sharp intellect were evident as he addressed contemporary issues in literature and technology.
In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death over alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses.
Following this, Rushdie went into hiding under British protection and later settled in New York, in the United States. The book was banned in 20 countries. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence.
On August 12, 2022, while about to start a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, Rushdie was attacked by 27-year-old Hadi Matar, who rushed onto the stage and stabbed him repeatedly, including in the face, neck, and abdomen. Matar was pulled away before being taken into custody by a state trooper; Rushdie was airlifted to UPMC Hamot, a tertiary trauma centre in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery before being put on a ventilator.
On October 23, 2022, his agent reported that Rushdie had lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand but survived the murder attempt. The assailant, Hadi Matar, was sentenced in a New York court for the attempted murder of Rushdie. The author later said he was 'pleased" that the man had been handed the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
(With agency inputs)
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