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Agatha Christie Returns as AI Teacher in BBC Maestro Writing Course
Key Takeaways
- A digital version of Agatha Christie now teaches writing through a BBC Maestro course for around $105;
- Researchers used Christie’s real words, with AI recreating her face and voice over an actor’s performance;
- While AI copyright debates grow, Christie’s family approved the project, ensuring her words stayed true.
Although Agatha Christie passed away in 1976, a digital version of her has been created for a writing class offered by BBC Maestro.
At the start of the course, she greets students by saying, "I must confess, this is all rather new to me". The class costs £79 (around $105) and offers advice to those hoping to improve their writing.
According to a report from The New York Times, Researchers gathered Christie’s past writings and interviews to prepare the lessons.
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They wrote a script using only her real words or phrases that reflected her original views. A professional actor performed the script, and artificial intelligence (AI) was used to create a realistic version of Christie’s face and voice to match the performance.
Michael Levine, chief executive of BBC Maestro, explained:
This is just a representation of Agatha to teach her own craft.
The course was released at a time when AI is raising new questions about copyright and creativity. In the United Kingdom, proposed changes to copyright law have led to fears that artists’ work might be used to train AI models without permission.
However, James Prichard, Christie’s great-grandson and head of Agatha Christie Ltd., said the family agreed as long as the course used only her words and made sure the image and voice matched Christie’s. Prichard added:
We are collecting what she said and putting it out in a digestible and shareable format.
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