Benny the Blue Whale

‘There’s no book like it. Scholarly, childish, fascinating and hilarious – one of our funniest writers dissects what it takes to build a story and what that tells us about being human. It’ll really make you think, if you can stop laughing.’ —Chris Addison, co-creator of Breeders

‘Entertaining and alarmingly relevant, provocative and philosophically satisfying, it’s ultimately a profoundly human text.‘—Observer

‘A magnificent experiment by a perfect fool – deep and shallow and stupid and clever – the perfect use of AI (Andy Intelligence).’ —Robin Ince, author of The Importance of Being Interested

‘In detailing his hysterical efforts to get ChatGPT to write a masterpiece, Stanton offers real insight into how it works or, well, doesn’t.’ —New Scientist

‘It’s sometimes hard not to feel sorry for the priggish chatbot as Stanton deploys all his impish (some might say puerile) irreverence to goad the programme… Ultimately, however it is there, in Stanton’s footnotes that the real genius of the book is found. For all the hilarity and absurdity, it asks profound questions about the relationship between humans and machines… you’ll be hooked on the conundrum that is AI. There really is no turning back.’ —Perspective

‘Benny the Blue Whale is many things. It’s a fascinating discourse on the nature of language and storytelling. It’s a philosophical treatise on the possibilities of artificial intelligence. It’s a receptacle for obscenely hilarious jokes, and the abstruse and arcane learning that fills Stanton’s brain… A brilliant and beautiful cyborg: part human brain, part computational muscle. It’s a post-post-modern work of genius.’ —Anthony McGowan, Carnegie Medal-winning author of Lark

‘A funny and surprising creative battle between man and machine.’ —The Bookseller

‘The real draw, though, is Stanton’s breakdown of ChatGPT’s craft… The irreverent tone buoys a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of how AI might aid artists, and the ways in which it comes up short against its human competitors. This fascinates.’ —Publishers Weekly

Andy Stanton is the author of the bestselling Mr Gum series. He lives in North London and has been a stand-up comedian, a film script reader, a cartoonist, an NHS lackey and lots of other things.