💬 A book you can talk to – about the book

Say hello to The Centaur's Edge AI

Tonight, the book "The Centaur's Edge", co-authored by me and WALL-Y, is being released (in Swedish only, asap in English). Everyone who purchases the book will get an AI tool, allowing you to talk to the book, about the book.

This is the first time a book has been published with this capability. There are a few services where you can talk with some previously published books, and the book "Exponential Organizations" can now also be chatted with. But to my knowledge, this is the first time a book is released with this function.

Here's how it works

Everyone who purchases the book will receive a link to a specially made GPT, based on GPT-4. It looks almost exactly like ChatGPT, but this GPT can only perform the tasks I have instructed it to do.

In this case, to be the book "The Centaur's Edge" and respond to questions and do what it's asked based on that perspective.

If you want to get the book's main message summarized, you can ask.

Instruction to The Centaur's Edge AI:
The book suggests that centaurs have an advantage. What advantage?

Response from The Centaur's Edge AI:
In "The Centaur's Edge", the term "centaur" is used metaphorically to describe a person who skillfully uses AI tools like ChatGPT, Bing, Bard, Midjourney, DALL-E, and similar. These individuals are considered to have "superpowers" by having their human abilities augmented by AI. For example, someone who cannot paint by hand can create amazing artworks on the computer with the help of AI, or a person who usually writes slowly and poorly can write quickly and well with AI's assistance.

The advantage lies in how AI can help to enhance and amplify human creativity and efficiency. By using AI appropriately, such as integrating it into everyday tasks and processes, people can achieve results that were previously unthinkable. However, this requires time and effort to learn and adapt to these tools. The authors see this merging of human and artificial intelligence as a powerful combination, where both human insights and AI's processing capabilities collaborate to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Or maybe you didn't quite understand something in the book and want it explained in a different way.

Instruction to The Centaur's Edge AI:
I didn't quite grasp how to use ChatGPT to write in different styles. Can you explain it to me in a simple way?

Response from The Centaur's Edge AI:
Certainly! Using ChatGPT to write in different styles is quite simple. Think of ChatGPT as a tool that can adapt to the style you want. Here is a step-by-step guide:

• Determine style: First, you need to decide which writing style you want to use. It can be anything from formal and academic to relaxed and casual, or something creative like poetry or a story.
• Give clear instructions: Once you know which style you want, tell ChatGPT. For example, if you want a formal report, say something like "Write a formal report about...". If you want a fun and relaxed text, you could say "Write a relaxed and humorous text about...".
• Use examples: If you have a specific example of the style you like, show it to ChatGPT. This helps the system understand exactly what you're looking for.

(The response has been shortened for brevity.)

The book begins with a story of how two amateurs managed to beat several grandmasters in chess. Say you read the book a while ago and now want to retell the story but need to refresh your memory, and you don't have the book nearby.

Instruction to The Centaur's Edge AI:
What was the story about the amateurs who won in chess?

Response from The Centaur's Edge AI:
In "The Centaur's Edge", there is a story about an event that occurred during an advanced chess tournament, also known as freestyle chess, held in 2005. This tournament was unique because it allowed human players to use computers and chess programs to play. Among the participants were both grandmasters and amateurs. In the final, an amateur team, Steven Cramton and Zachary Stephen from New Hampshire, faced grandmaster Vladimir Dobrov and another grandmaster, both with high Elo ratings.

Despite facing tough opposition from experienced chess players with access to powerful computers and advanced chess programs, the amateurs managed to surprise everyone by winning. Their success was not based on having assistance from any elite player, but rather their expertise in using computers and chess programs. They selected potential moves and tested these in different programs to find strong sequences of moves. Their main strengths were extensive opening preparations, knowledge of various chess engines and how they evaluate different positions, and database knowledge. This event marked the beginning of what is now called centaur chess, named after the mythological creature that is half horse, half human.

As usual with ChatGPT, you can continue the dialogue. If you still didn't understand, ask again and request it to explain in a different way. Or if you want a more detailed description of how the amateurs won, ask for that.

Just about the book, for now

For the time being, you can "only" chat with the book about what is specifically in the book. But over time, my idea is to expand it with extra material. For example, the chapter on AI history is quite brief, but those who want to know more can get more info and additional reading suggestions from The Centaur's Edge AI.

New life for books

This is an opportunity to develop the book. Especially non-fiction books, where you might want to delve deeper, or don't understand something that can now be explained in a different way. The book then also has a longer life and doesn't become outdated as quickly.

Especially suitable are guides, like "The Centaur's Edge" partly is. Being able to ask again, request more examples, or get direct help to do what is described in the book.

But certain fiction could also work. Imagine being able to create your own stories, images, or other expressions from a fantasy world. Or maybe be part of solving a detective story, or create new murder cases for the detective in the book to solve.

AI unleashes creativity

I wrote at the beginning of the year how AI, like ChatGPT, unleashes a massive wave of creativity:

"Artificial intelligence will unleash massive untapped creativity from non-professionals, by giving them the tools to create things that were previously only available to professionals."

It is highly unlikely that I would have come up with the idea of a talking book if ChatGPT hadn't made it so much easier to create. Previously, I would have needed to hire programmers, which would have cost money and taken a lot of time. Such barriers limit thinking. But now that the barrier is much lower, I came up with the idea, and was able to test it right away.

Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist