Andy Stanton, author of the “profound and utterly brilliant” (The Times) non-fiction book Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT. will be taking part in Berwins Salon North in Harrogate on Thursday 12th September.

“Join us for an inspiring evening with Suzanne Heywood, Philip Ball and Andy Stanton, where we delve into extraordinary journeys and cutting-edge explorations in science and technology. Our trio of guest speakers will be expertly hosted by journalist and broadcaster Anna Lawlor.”

The event, entitled ‘From High Seas to High Tech’, begins at 7.30pm at The Crown Hotel. Find out more here.

Join bestselling children’s author Andy Stanton, creator of Mr Gum, as he returns from his longest and strangest voyage yet. With his penchant for absurdist plots, larger-than-life characters and outrageous wordplay, Andy’s writing is anything but formulaic. So, when a friend introduces him to ChatGPT, he is as sceptical as he is curious, engineering a prompt that will push the algorithm to its creative limits: tell me a story about a blue whale with a tiny penis.

What follows is a chaotic, surprising and illuminating battle between Andy and the AI that – just maybe – might help us all understand the future a little bit better. Part shaggy whale story, part lit crit, part creative writing guide, part nervous breakdown, this is tech reportage at the cutting edge of madness.

Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent Into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT is out in paperback on Thursday 5th September. Grab your copy here or, better, via your local bookshop or Bookshop.org.

You can also listen to the audiobook, narrated by the hilarious duo Andy Stanton (Andy Stanton) and Nish Kumar (ChatGPT). Buy yours here now.

Follow him @AndyStanton15.