Insights November 16th, 2015

Philip M. Parker has generated/created over 200,000 books, as an advanced search on Amazon.com under his publishing company shows, making him “the most published author in the history of the planet.”
Parker’s books are not conventional, and maybe we should call Mr. Parker a compiler than an author. Parker, who is also the chaired professor of management science at Insead, has developed a number of computer algorithms that collect publicly available information on a subject and, aided by his 60 to 70 computers and a few programmers, he turns the results into books in a range of genres, many of them in the range of 150 pages and printed only when a customer buys one.
In The Future of Work: Computers as Authors we look at a couple of presentations of Philip M. Parker’s innovations in generating books.

Can Big Data authors end poverty? Phillip Parker at TEDxSeattle

Philip Parker creates algorithms that generate textbooks, crossword puzzles, dictionaries, poetry and educational video games in any language and distributes them to underserved communities. At TEDxSeattle, he explains the basics behind how he does it and what the future holds — from creating resources to improve agriculture in poor regions to getting your iPhone to write your dissertation for you.
Philip Parker is known for his pioneering work on using computer algorithms to author books, videos, and games, especially in the field of education, across underserved topics and languages. He is the INSEAD Chair Professor of Management Science, and has recently been involved in projects supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to bring impactful agricultural knowledge to the world’s poorest communities, in their local languages, via radio, mobile phone networks, call centers and field extension workers.

You can read a longer article in the NY Times.

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Nikolas Badminton is a world-respected futurist speaker that researches, speaks, and writes about the future of work, how technology is affecting the workplace, how workers are adapting, the sharing economy, and how the world is evolving. He appears at conferences in Canada, USA, UK, and Europe. Email him to book him for your radio, TV show, or conference.
 

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Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist of the Futurist Think Tank. He is world-renowned futurist speaker, a Fellow of The RSA (FRSA), a media personality, and has worked with over 400 of the world’s most impactful companies to establish strategic foresight capabilities, identify trends shaping our world, help anticipate unforeseen risks, and design equitable futures for all. In his new book – ‘Facing Our Futures’ – he challenges short-term thinking and provides executives and organizations with the foundations for futures design and the tools to ignite curiosity, create a framework for futures exploration, and shift their mindset from what is to WHAT IF…

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