The extended book

The book, which in its millennial evolution in the Renaissance experienced Gutenberg’s printing revolution, still retains a decisive role in the development and transmission of deep knowledge. Mass media, Electronic publishing, The Internet, Apps, have not undermined this dominant role of the book in cultural education, which retains a surprisingly resilient centrality. Many analysts recognize the book’s unaltered educational effectiveness even in the digital age, which, on the contrary, is increasingly accused of causing distraction, inability to concentrate, and thus a substantial drop in students’ IQ. Heavy accusations, which are mainly aimed at social networks and compulsive smartphone browsing, but probably also have to do with the hypertextual nature of digital pages. Will the centrality of the book in knowledge remain so in the age of artificial intelligence? It is the child of the book, and of its networked extension; it is composed of billions of pages published online; it is the book of books.

It is fair to wonder whether the book will withstand this revolution as well. Or whether it will be transformed. But what form might it take in the future? Customizable, conversational, generative books are conceivable. Or new forms for deep knowledge, such as immersive environments enhanced by artificial intelligence. It is on this last hypothesis that interesting experiments are being developed in Italy, in an artistic context accustomed for centuries to cognitive environments such as the extraordinary historiated cathedrals or frescoed palaces that make Italy’s cultural heritage unique. Extended book authors are a possible new profession enabled by technological evolution.

The AI-Book “Homo Extensus” is one of the experiments in the new forms of the book of the Artificial Intelligence era.