The Dirty Nitty-Gritty Truth of The Policeman’s Beard

Earlier I mentioned a book allegedly written by a computer; that book is The Policeman’s Beard is Half-Constructed.

In trying to find the title of the book, I inadvertently stumbled across the revelation (which I’ll admit isn’t exactly earth-shaking) that the book, contrary to the claims of its introduction, was probably not written entirely by a computer. The truth likely being that parts of it were written by a computer program, with other parts being produced through highly specialized criteria, and other parts yet being (possibly) written purely by the human co-author. (Though from my brief inquiry into the matter I haven’t found anyone who’s outright said it’s 100% not even partially a product of a computer program.)

Fears of robotic overperfection seem sadly unwarranted.

(Though in fairness, “The Policeman’s Beard is Half-Constructed” is still kinda a funny book regardless who the actual author is—man or machine—albeit funny in a quixotic sort of way.)