Richard Beard
@richbeard.bsky.social
Writer of novels and memoirs, including The Universal Turing Machine. https://universalturingmachine.co.uk/
'When Turing was deep in thought, according to his biographer Andrew Hodges, he used to scratch his side-parted hair and make a squelching noise with his mouth.'
Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.
Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
aeon.co
January 29, 2026 at 6:24 PM
'When Turing was deep in thought, according to his biographer Andrew Hodges, he used to scratch his side-parted hair and make a squelching noise with his mouth.'
Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.
Some thoughts for @aeon.co on Alan Turing, and other creative artists.
Reposted by Richard Beard
Goldsmiths Prize 2015 shortlistee, @richbeard.bsky.social, on 'the miracle of human artistic selection' and much more in @aeon.co
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
aeon.co
January 27, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Goldsmiths Prize 2015 shortlistee, @richbeard.bsky.social, on 'the miracle of human artistic selection' and much more in @aeon.co
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
Reposted by Richard Beard
"Familiar word combinations are assembled into almost convincing sentences, a tired use of language formerly called out as cliché. LLMs are cliché machines, trained on a resilient human weakness for generating maximum content with minimum effort." aeon.co/essays/sure-...
#llm #writing
#llm #writing
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
aeon.co
January 26, 2026 at 7:31 AM
"Familiar word combinations are assembled into almost convincing sentences, a tired use of language formerly called out as cliché. LLMs are cliché machines, trained on a resilient human weakness for generating maximum content with minimum effort." aeon.co/essays/sure-...
#llm #writing
#llm #writing
@aeon.co asked me to write about the incursion of AI into the creative arts, and why my memoir project The Universal Turing Machine stands up for all that is good and right. I'll do what I can, I said.
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
aeon.co
January 23, 2026 at 5:15 PM
@aeon.co asked me to write about the incursion of AI into the creative arts, and why my memoir project The Universal Turing Machine stands up for all that is good and right. I'll do what I can, I said.
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
aeon.co/essays/sure-...
Reposted by Richard Beard
Can AI be creative? Machine learning mechanisms are based on predictability and following instructions – anathema to making truly great art, which at its core is ‘an affirmation of human existence’, as Richard Beard argues in this passionate Essay
Sure, AI can ‘do’ writing. But memoir? Not so much | Aeon Essays
As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer
buff.ly
January 23, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Can AI be creative? Machine learning mechanisms are based on predictability and following instructions – anathema to making truly great art, which at its core is ‘an affirmation of human existence’, as Richard Beard argues in this passionate Essay
Reposted by Richard Beard
I have a new story on BBC Radio 4 - Friday 23 Jan - and then on catchup
Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger
I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger
I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Short Works, A Whole Giant's Daughter Quest Thing by Jo Lloyd
An original short work for radio by Jo Lloyd. Read by Alexander Vlahos.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 7:55 AM
I have a new story on BBC Radio 4 - Friday 23 Jan - and then on catchup
Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger
I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Elevator pitch - a comedy about love, entropy and a ceremonial badger
I’d love for you to give it a listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Richard Beard
'Eton Avenue from a Window' Belsize Park by William Ratcliffe (1870-1955)
(Private collection)
(Private collection)
January 22, 2026 at 7:38 AM
'Eton Avenue from a Window' Belsize Park by William Ratcliffe (1870-1955)
(Private collection)
(Private collection)
Reposted by Richard Beard
Thanks so much to library book borrowers for borrowing my books especially Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (taken out 2000 times) and Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu (1000 times). PLR public lending rights is amazing! Please use your local libraries!
January 19, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Thanks so much to library book borrowers for borrowing my books especially Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (taken out 2000 times) and Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu (1000 times). PLR public lending rights is amazing! Please use your local libraries!
Reposted by Richard Beard
Looking to write a memoir in 2026?
Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir.
Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale!
#amwriting #writing #booksky
Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir.
Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale!
#amwriting #writing #booksky
January 6, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Looking to write a memoir in 2026?
Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir.
Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale!
#amwriting #writing #booksky
Look no further than 'Into being' by @lilydunn.bsky.social, a new book that shares the secrets of writing a new, transformative kind of memoir.
Available from all good bookshops, and currently 40% off in our January Sale!
#amwriting #writing #booksky
Or not on the flyer. RSVP: hello@themewscoachworks.com
London, next Wednesday, will be discussing and demonstrating the Universal Turing Machine, then inventing a bingo/literary quiz using the squares. Unmissable. RSVP details on flyer.
January 5, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Or not on the flyer. RSVP: hello@themewscoachworks.com
London, next Wednesday, will be discussing and demonstrating the Universal Turing Machine, then inventing a bingo/literary quiz using the squares. Unmissable. RSVP details on flyer.
January 5, 2026 at 3:27 PM
London, next Wednesday, will be discussing and demonstrating the Universal Turing Machine, then inventing a bingo/literary quiz using the squares. Unmissable. RSVP details on flyer.
Reposted by Richard Beard
Keith Ridgway’s ‘Dooneen’ is an engrossing queer-in-all-ways thriller, an insurgent near-future haunting of our present, a vivid reimagining of Dublin, and a love and a loss story. Published @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social and @ndbooks.bsky.social June 2026.
December 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Keith Ridgway’s ‘Dooneen’ is an engrossing queer-in-all-ways thriller, an insurgent near-future haunting of our present, a vivid reimagining of Dublin, and a love and a loss story. Published @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social and @ndbooks.bsky.social June 2026.
Catherine Fox on Ian Marchant.
Obituary of Ian Marchant, novelist, memoirist, teacher, musician, comedian, columnist for the Church Times, broadcaster
Obituary: Ian Marchant
‘As I read accounts of Ian’s life and achievements, I realise that I benefited from only a few paragraphs of the Ian Marchant volume’
www.churchtimes.co.uk
December 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Catherine Fox on Ian Marchant.
Reposted by Richard Beard
A misty dawn at Diggers
December 13, 2025 at 6:15 AM
A misty dawn at Diggers
Reposted by Richard Beard
keeping warm in the boat
December 12, 2025 at 5:41 AM
keeping warm in the boat
Reposted by Richard Beard
I started reading _George Perec’s Geographies: Material, Performative and Textual Spaces_ — and it’s not working out right, I am highlighting or bookmarking every page.
December 2, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I started reading _George Perec’s Geographies: Material, Performative and Textual Spaces_ — and it’s not working out right, I am highlighting or bookmarking every page.
Reposted by Richard Beard
Thirty years ago, in December 1995, I was reading Pig by Andrew Cowan which I remember being quite impressed by. I went on to read Common Ground but nothing since.
December 1, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Thirty years ago, in December 1995, I was reading Pig by Andrew Cowan which I remember being quite impressed by. I went on to read Common Ground but nothing since.
Anti AI writing project.
universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Anti AI writing project.
universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
Reposted by Richard Beard
Decided instead of promoting my own crap today I’d like to help others instead. Feel free to share your newsletters and independent gigs or even some story you wrote and I’ll repost some
November 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Decided instead of promoting my own crap today I’d like to help others instead. Feel free to share your newsletters and independent gigs or even some story you wrote and I’ll repost some
Reposted by Richard Beard
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Ian Marchant obituary
Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Ian Marchant obituary
Writer, performer and broadcaster with a talent for being interested in everything and a particular fascination with British counterculture
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I wrote an obituary for my friend Ian Marchant, despite his resistance to ever being contained. I miss him.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Reposted by Richard Beard
Just downloaded a video-making app, so here’s my first effort with it…
November 13, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Just downloaded a video-making app, so here’s my first effort with it…
Tonight. Ten quid. Bargain.
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...
The Lure of Class
Produced and presented by Byline Times The Lure of Class Join the team behind the independent investigative newspaper Byline Times for an evening of stimulating discussion to help us understand the
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Tonight. Ten quid. Bargain.
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...
cockpitdirect.gn.apc.org/show/the_lur...
Reposted by Richard Beard
Get your tickets in advance for 'The Lure of Class' on November 10th (once again at London's Cockpit Theatre) here: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...
October 14, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Get your tickets in advance for 'The Lure of Class' on November 10th (once again at London's Cockpit Theatre) here: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...
Reposted by Richard Beard
RIP to David Bellos, a great translator, teacher, scholar and popularizer. Here's a charming little essay about what he learned from his landmark translation of Georges Perec's 'Life: A User's Manual'. online.wsj.com/article/SB10...
October 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM
RIP to David Bellos, a great translator, teacher, scholar and popularizer. Here's a charming little essay about what he learned from his landmark translation of Georges Perec's 'Life: A User's Manual'. online.wsj.com/article/SB10...