Anna Funder on AI, Untold Stories, and Her Upcoming Tour
From July 31 to August 12, Anna Funder, the acclaimed Australian writer, will embark on a tour across Australia and New Zealand titled 'An Evening with Anna Funder'. This series of events delves into her fascination with overlooked narratives, power dynamics, storytelling, and democracy. Funder, recognized for her narrative non-fiction like 'Stasiland' (2003) and 'Wifedom' (2025), as well as her novel 'All That I Am' (2011), explains in an ArtsHub interview her motivation to highlight hidden histories, including those of Eileen O’Shaughnessy and East German resisters. She stresses the importance of acknowledging both victims and heroes for true reconciliation. Regarding AI, Funder critiques the irresponsible practices of companies like Anthropic, which recently sought to sell its 'Mythos' program to the Australian government, advocating for the significance of human-written literature over machine-generated content.
Key facts
- Anna Funder tours Australia and New Zealand from 31 July to 12 August.
- Her live event is titled 'An Evening with Anna Funder'.
- Funder wrote 'Stasiland' (2003), 'Wifedom' (2025), and 'All That I Am' (2011).
- She focuses on untold stories, such as those of Eileen O’Shaughnessy and East German resisters.
- Funder argues that history omits stories for political reasons.
- She criticizes AI as predictive software using stolen material, not learning or hallucinating.
- Anthropic developed 'Mythos' and approached the Australian government to sell it.
- Funder states human-authored books are necessary and machine-produced books are simulacra.
Entities
Artists
- Anna Funder
Institutions
- ArtsHub
- Anthropic
Locations
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Perth
- East Germany
- London