The creator of Marlowe spills the goods on the new artificial intelligence for fiction authors
Can a computer really know what makes up an enticing novel? And if so, how does that actually work? That’s often the first question we get from readers and authors when we explain what Marlowe, our artificial intelligence, is accomplishing in the field of fiction.
We brought in Dr. Matthew Jockers, Marlowe’s creator, to explain how the A.I. can distinguish a great novel from a weak one and point out ways to improve it. Watch the chat below, where Matt does a good job of unwrapping the mystery. The core explanation lies in pattern recognition and Marlow’s ability to read thousands of books and remember minute details, traits and linguistics about every single novel.
Here is where things get cool, because the more she reads, the more she knows and the more she can share with us. In this live chat, we discuss how popular fiction has changed over the years, what elements of a plot are needed to hold readers’ interests, and how Marlowe can identify where an author is from simply by how often she uses the word “the.”
Click above to watch our half-hour discussion about A.I. in fiction, vampires and qualities that Marlowe has identified in bestselling books. If you’re interested in using Marlowe on your novels, click here to explore her free and advanced A.I. reports and plans.
Disclosure: Matt Jockers and I are co-founders of Authors A.I.
What’s your story?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode of First Draft Friday discussion. Please drop your thoughts or questions in the comments below, or drop me a line. If you enjoy the chat, watch more video chats about characters, story beats and overcoming writing struggles here.
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Would Marlowe understand a framed story, one with an external frame that uses a different set of characters in a different time period, such that there’s no overlap between the frame and inner story?
Hi Mark, Marlowe reads a book the same way that a human does, which is to say, she reads from front to back. When your narrative moves back and forth in time, Marlowe moves along with the narrative just as a reader would.
Thanks. I can see some of Marlowe’s routines working fine: word count, punctuation, risque words, etc. But narrative arc, plot turns, and beats might be tough to follow in that the outer frame in my story has its own set of those, while the inner story has its set of those. So, when I ran Marlowe, I stripped off the outer frame, so that it wouldn’t be confused.