Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity: Inside the Mind of BRUTUS, a Storytelling Machine Selmer Bringsjord and David A. Ferrucci (Rensselaer Polytechic Institute and IBM T.J. Watson Research Center) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000, xxxii+230 pp; hardbound, ISBN 0-8058-1986-X, $59.95; paperbound, ISBN 0-8058-1987-8, $27.50

BRUTUS is a p rogram that tells stories. The stories are intriguing, they hold a hint of mystery, a n d n o t least impress ivethey are written in correct English prose. An example (p. 124) is shown in Figure 1. This remarkable feat is g rounded in a complex architecture making use of a number of levels, each of which is parameter ized so as to become a locus of possible variation. The specific BRUTUS1 implementat ion that illustrates the p rogram's prowess exploits the theme of betrayal, which receives an elaborate analysis, culminating in a set