On the road with a new book, I recently spoke at a literary luncheon hosted by the Cambridge Festival. What could be more civilised than food, wine and conversations about murder with a charming audience… but this is one of many festivals that lost its funding thanks to the organisers of Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh pulling out of their sponsorship deal with Baillie Gifford, a unilateral decision that has endangered the entire landscape of literary festivals. Cambridge, Wigtown, Stratford and Henley all ended up losing their funding when Baillie Gifford, not surprisingly, decided to call it a day.
And what exactly has been gained? The pressure group Fossil Free Books may be preening itself. ‘Solidarity with Palestine and climate justice are inextricably linked,’ they claimed as they targeted Baillie Gifford on these two fronts, although personally I don’t see the connection, and certainly neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Donald Trump have changed their policies because they’ve been unable to get their books signed by their favourite authors. I do have some sympathy for Hay-on-Wye, which faced ‘possible decimation’ if it didn’t capitulate, but shooting yourself in the foot is never a good way to improve the way you walk.
The subject of AI came up at Cambridge as it does almost every time I speak these days, but I’m firmly of the view that it’s a misnomer. Artificial Intelligence? I know that sounds like a brilliant short premise for a sci-fi novel but I’d say Advanced Imitation would be closer to the mark. I have yet to see a single poem or piece of prose, one painting or photograph created by AI that has a spark of true originality or, in the literal sense, genius. Even so, we still have every reason to fear this new technology. Just as Google has largely replaced intellectual curiosity – why be curious when the answer to every question is in the palm of your hand? – how long will it be before people decide that an ersatz, second-rate version of a writer, and one that is effectively free, is a reasonable replacement for the writer themselves?
I remember slipping into the Old Vic as a teenager with a crumpled tenner and walking out two hours later, convinced I’d seen something close to magic. Theatre, when it works, is a living, breathing mystery – it draws you in, leaves you breathless, makes you think. But now too many are locked out before the curtain even rises. Yes, costs are high. Sets don’t build themselves. But producers need to take a leaf from playwrights they celebrate and, above all, be fair. Make room for young people. For families. For those who might fall in love with theatre, if only they could afford to get in.
You see what I mean? The last paragraph was written by ChatGPT: I asked it to produce 100 words about theatre tickets in my style and, although it’s true I have always loved the Old Vic and it’s possible a ‘crumpled tenner’ might have been in my back pocket when I was a teenager, such a phrase has never been in my lexicon. The paragraph sounds authoritative but it’s quite facile. ‘Sets don’t build themselves’ is how my grandmother might have talked, and do producers celebrate playwrights? Are playwrights always fair? If I became breathless in a theatre, I’d expect St John’s Ambulance to remove me quickly. And how did producers, who take huge risks, become the villains of the piece? I think there’s something inexpressibly naff and superficial about this AI version of myself. I also asked it to do Rod Liddle and, trust me, that was even worse.
We are halfway through shooting Marble Hall Murders, the third in the series that began with Magpie Murders and although it is set in London, we are shooting in Ireland, which offers tax incentives and brilliant crews. The 100 per cent tariffs Donald Trump announced on films made outside the USA are not just a financial disaster but an artistic one. Take the Star Wars series, which has been filmed in ten countries so far, including the UK, Tunisia, Norway, Iceland and the UAE. Foreign locations provide new horizons – quite literally – for audiences that may have seen enough of LA, New York and Miami. Tom Cruise being chased through Paris or Daniel Craig through London may be foreign but that’s what makes it exciting.
So what’s the future? Will films made abroad even be allowed into American cinemas? Will American audiences see only American films, set in America, about American themes? It could be a death sentence for studios in the UK and Ireland, and I can’t say it looks too good for writers like myself either. Although I suppose I can always be replaced by AI.
Anthony Horowitz’s new novel Marble Hall Murders is out now.
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