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The Age
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
She might be dead, but Agatha Christie is giving writing lessons. Sort of...
Creepy but vital question: if your writing tutor was the bestselling novelist of all time, and able to reveal the secrets behind writing irresistible crime mysteries while sitting at a mahogany desk wearing her trademark tweed suit and pearls, would it matter that she's dead – and that you are, in fact, looking at an eerily realistic, AI-supported video version of her? Such questions hover around the new BBC Maestro series, Agatha Christie on Writing, a 2.5-hour online course of 11 lessons led by the author herself, even though she died back in 1976 at the age of 85. Yet here she is, staring into the camera, grey hair neatly curled, a brooch on her lapel, taking us on a time-travel journey to the 1940s to share her tips of the trade. 'I am Agatha Christie,' she announces in the course's trailer, sitting with her hands clasped after a camera has panned across a fountain pen, a magnifying glass and a cup of tea in a floral teacup on her desk. 'And this is my BBC Maestro course on writing.' It's gobsmackingly real. But Christie, who's also shown getting out of a car, sitting on a garden bench writing and wandering through a large house, isn't entirely AI-created. Conceived with the help of Christie's great-grandson, James Prichard, the online lessons feature a real actor, Vivien Keene, who wears a wig and costumes and uses a script drawn from Christie's letters, interviews and personal writing. Nearly 100 people, including academics, researchers, hair and make-up artists, a set designer and visual-effects experts, are behind the course and the digital magic that allows Keene's moving face to be overlaid with Christie's features. Resurrecting famous dead people via AI isn't new. Virtually Parkinson, an AI-created podcast 'hosted' by the late Michael Parkinson, features a digitally recreated version of the chat-show host's voice (derived from recordings) interviewing living celebrities. The show's technical prowess means AI Parkinson is able to analyse guests' answers and pose follow-up questions. Take AI Parky asking UK gardening expert Monty Don about what draws him back to the garden: 'It always comes back to the same thing of getting down to the ground, back to the earth,' Don says. AI Parky: 'I find that interesting. What is it about this connection to the earth that nurtures you so profoundly?' Don, laughing: 'I think it's to do with ... the rhythms of nature ... the way things grow.' It feels like the tip of the iceberg. In 2024, US software company ElevenLabs partnered with the estates of Laurence Olivier, Judy Garland and James Dean to use the late actors' voices as narrators for books and other text material on its Reader app. How long, then, before Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë, quills in hand, are explaining Elizabeth Bennet or Jane Eyre? If the Queen of Mystery's 'realness' is any guide, the answer is, imminently. 'I will pass on the best advice I can from my own experiences,' Christie says, her crystalline gaze eyeing her students. 'But I should warn you, you must be serious about it if you wish to be a success.' Lenny Ann Low
Sydney Morning Herald
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
She might be dead, but Agatha Christie is giving writing lessons. Sort of...
Creepy but vital question: if your writing tutor was the bestselling novelist of all time, and able to reveal the secrets behind writing irresistible crime mysteries while sitting at a mahogany desk wearing her trademark tweed suit and pearls, would it matter that she's dead – and that you are, in fact, looking at an eerily realistic, AI-supported video version of her? Such questions hover around the new BBC Maestro series, Agatha Christie on Writing, a 2.5-hour online course of 11 lessons led by the author herself, even though she died back in 1976 at the age of 85. Yet here she is, staring into the camera, grey hair neatly curled, a brooch on her lapel, taking us on a time-travel journey to the 1940s to share her tips of the trade. 'I am Agatha Christie,' she announces in the course's trailer, sitting with her hands clasped after a camera has panned across a fountain pen, a magnifying glass and a cup of tea in a floral teacup on her desk. 'And this is my BBC Maestro course on writing.' It's gobsmackingly real. But Christie, who's also shown getting out of a car, sitting on a garden bench writing and wandering through a large house, isn't entirely AI-created. Conceived with the help of Christie's great-grandson, James Prichard, the online lessons feature a real actor, Vivien Keene, who wears a wig and costumes and uses a script drawn from Christie's letters, interviews and personal writing. Nearly 100 people, including academics, researchers, hair and make-up artists, a set designer and visual-effects experts, are behind the course and the digital magic that allows Keene's moving face to be overlaid with Christie's features. Resurrecting famous dead people via AI isn't new. Virtually Parkinson, an AI-created podcast 'hosted' by the late Michael Parkinson, features a digitally recreated version of the chat-show host's voice (derived from recordings) interviewing living celebrities. The show's technical prowess means AI Parkinson is able to analyse guests' answers and pose follow-up questions. Take AI Parky asking UK gardening expert Monty Don about what draws him back to the garden: 'It always comes back to the same thing of getting down to the ground, back to the earth,' Don says. AI Parky: 'I find that interesting. What is it about this connection to the earth that nurtures you so profoundly?' Don, laughing: 'I think it's to do with ... the rhythms of nature ... the way things grow.' It feels like the tip of the iceberg. In 2024, US software company ElevenLabs partnered with the estates of Laurence Olivier, Judy Garland and James Dean to use the late actors' voices as narrators for books and other text material on its Reader app. How long, then, before Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë, quills in hand, are explaining Elizabeth Bennet or Jane Eyre? If the Queen of Mystery's 'realness' is any guide, the answer is, imminently. 'I will pass on the best advice I can from my own experiences,' Christie says, her crystalline gaze eyeing her students. 'But I should warn you, you must be serious about it if you wish to be a success.' Lenny Ann Low
Engadget
25-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
MasterClass deal: Get up to 40 percent off for Memorial Day
Memorial Day sales are in full swing, bringing discounts to headphones, vacuums, smart home gear and even some subscription services. One of the latter is on MasterClass memberships, which are up to 40 percent off for the holiday. From May 22 to 26, you can sign up for one year for as low was $72. Just make sure to subscribe before the end of Memorial Day itself to take advantage of the discount. When you take a MasterClass course, one of the world's top experts guides you through a series of videos on how to approach their craft. The Memorial Day deal drops the cost of a Standard subscription to $6 per month when billed annually, which comes out to $72 in total. That gives you access to more than 200 courses for a year, though you can only watch them on a device connected to the internet. It makes an excellent gift for someone you love — or for yourself. MasterClass is also discounting its higher tiers for Memorial Day. With a Plus subscription, you can watch MasterClass courses on two devices at once, and download them to watch offline whenever you want. A Premium subscription boosts the number of devices to six. The latter also includes access to MasterClass On Call, which lets you chat with AI recreations of MasterClass experts (Although, as our review notes, that feature still needs a bit of polishing.) After you've wowed your friends and family with your new grilling skills, MasterClass has plenty of other lessons that you can explore to continue your education. Creative writers can check out the BBC Maestro course that "resurrects" Agatha Christie, using her notes, an actress and AI rendering to teach the art of crafting a killer mystery. The platform also just launched a 20-episode series on healthy skin, featuring a panel of accredited dermatologists and cosmeticians. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice .
Chicago Tribune
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Biblioracle: Why I'm against ‘digital necromancy,' like the AI-driven Agatha Christie writing course
In 2012, hip hop star Tupac Shakur performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival on stage with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, even though Tupac had been killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996. The Tupac hologram was a little Hollywood special effects trickery that cost heavy sums, but now, thanks to generative artificial intelligence, we can resurrect just about any historical figure. Or can we? The most recent example to come across my radar is a BBC Maestro course featuring the woman who is considered the best-selling author of all time, Agatha Christie. BBC Maestro courses are essentially slickly produced, extended informational lectures combined with some exercises the viewer is meant to do along the way. They are not interactive, nor do they count for credit. They are, to my eye, purely for entertainment purposes. The maestros range across experts in singing, cooking, acting, decorating with flowers, and even sleeping. Still living writers who have done Maestro courses include Harlan Coben and Isabel Allende. But Agatha Christie is new because she is deader than one of the victims of her iconic mysteries, including 'Murder on the Orient Express' and 'Death on the Nile.' But there, on screen, in the preview video, is the voice and words (sort of) of Agatha Christie briefly expounding on the essential elements of a good mystery while she walks through a stately country house. This 'reanimated' Agatha Christie is being done with the permission of her estate, and consists of a script drawn from her writing, an AI that's mimicking her voice, and a layering of her face over that of a live actor. While the Christie estate and the avatar developers insist that they are working hard to be faithful to the original sentiments of the living person, AI ethicists object to this resurrection, pointing out that it is literally putting words in the mouth of someone who lived, and who cannot consent to this use. This is an example of what I have taken to calling 'digital necromancy,' and if you can't tell from my choice of term, I'm against it. There was a time where I would have brushed off the Agatha Christie example as mostly harmless, and on the scale of the application of generative AI in the service of digital necromancy, it's less egregious — especially considering its being done with permission from the people who have the rights to give permission — but I now see this and other examples as part of a bad movement that should be not just resisted, but rejected. Worse are the historical chatbots where people who lived and spoke and wrote are compiled into bespoke large language models and then let loose without consideration or care. Earlier this year, it was found that an Anne Frank chatbot could not and would not condemn the Nazis who killed her, much of her family and millions of others. This is likely because of Anne Frank's most famous passage from her 'Diary of a Young Girl,' 'In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.' Defenders of this use of the technology say it helps students 'engage' with history, but what kind of engagement is this? It's not just pedagogically dubious, it's morally offensive. We have Anne Frank's words. We have scholars who have written about Frank, including 'The Many Lives of Anne Frank' by Ruth Franklin, which I reviewed here. If you want to know what someone thought, read them. If you want a writing teacher, find an interested, sufficiently expert human with whom you can interact. We are abundant, I promise. John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read. 1. 'American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis' by Adam Hochschild 2. 'The Message' by Ta-Nehisi Coates 3. 'Fraud' by David Rakoff 4. 'The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels' by Pamela J. Prickett and Stefan Timmermans 5. 'You Dreamed of Empires' by Álvaro EnrigueI think Scott is a good fit for the family drama (with a nice dash of comedy) from Luis Alberto Urrea, 'The House of Broken Angels.' 1. 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen 2. 'This Is Water' by David Foster Wallace 3. 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt 4. 'The Last Samurai' by Helen DeWitt 5. 'Long Division' by Kiese LaymonFor Bill, it feels like an occasion for some oddness and wit, which is excellently met by Charles Portis and 'Masters of Atlantis.' 1. 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus 2. 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen 3. 'The Housemaid' by Freida McFadden 4. 'Booth' by Karen Joy Fowler 5. 'Memorial Days' by Geraldine BrooksI have yet to find the reader who is not charmed by Rufi Thorpe's 'Margo's Got Money Troubles.' Get a reading from the Biblioracle Send a list of the last five books you've read and your hometown to biblioracle@
Engadget
23-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
MasterClass subscriptions are 40 percent off for Memorial Day
If you're on grilling duty this Memorial Day and stressing about getting the steak and veggies just right, we've got a deal for you. The MasterClass Memorial Day sale, running from May 22 to 26, offers up to 40 percent off all subscriptions to the video learning platform. Starting at $72, you can learn how to grill from legendary Texas BBQ master Aaron Franklin, then enjoy other courses for a full year. Just make sure to subscribe before the end of Memorial Day itself to take advantage of the discount. When you take a MasterClass course, one of the world's top experts guides you through a series of videos on how to approach their craft. The Memorial Day deal drops the cost of a Standard subscription to $6 per month when billed annually, which comes out to $72 in total. That gives you access to more than 200 courses for a year, though you can only watch them on a device connected to the internet. It makes an excellent gift for someone you love — or for yourself. MasterClass is also discounting its higher tiers for Memorial Day. With a Plus subscription, you can watch MasterClass courses on two devices at once, and download them to watch offline whenever you want. A Premium subscription boosts the number of devices to six. The latter also includes access to MasterClass On Call, which lets you chat with AI recreations of MasterClass experts (Although, as our review notes, that feature still needs a bit of polishing.) After you've wowed your friends and family with your new grilling skills, MasterClass has plenty of other lessons that you can explore to continue your education. Creative writers can check out the BBC Maestro course that "resurrects" Agatha Christie, using her notes, an actress and AI rendering to teach the art of crafting a killer mystery. The platform also just launched a 20-episode series on healthy skin, featuring a panel of accredited dermatologists and cosmeticians. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice .
