John Clark (21 November 1785 – 23 May 1853) was an English printer and inventor who created the first automated text generator, the Latin Verse Machine (also known as the Eureka) between 1830 and 1843. Clark also patented a method for rubberising cloth that was used for air beds.
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👉 John Clark (inventor) in the context of Latin Verse Machine
The Eureka, also known as the Latin Verse Machine, is a 19th century invention that mechanically generated Latin hexameter. It was built from 1830 to 1845 by a grocer and printing shop worker named John Clark, who then exhibited his invention in the Egyptian Hall in London. For an admission price of one shilling, visitors could watch the "small bureau bookcase" produce a new verse of English hexameter in about a minute. The Eureka played God Save the King while running, and went silent when the verse was complete. Output from the machine included horrida sponsa reis promittunt tempora densa ("horrible brides promise tough times") and sontia tela bonis causabunt agmina crebra ("good weapons will cause frequent raids").
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- ⭐ Core Definition: John Clark (inventor)
- 👉 John Clark (inventor) in the context of Latin Verse Machine
- John Clark (inventor) in the context of Generative literature
John Clark (inventor) in the context of Generative literature
Generative literature is poetry or fiction that is automatically generated, often using computers. It is a genre of electronic literature, and also related to generative art.
John Clark's Latin Verse Machine (1830–1843) is probably the first example of mechanised generative literature, while Christopher Strachey's love letter generator (1952) is the first digital example. With the large language models (LLMs) of the 2020s, generative literature is becoming increasingly common.
View the full Wikipedia page for Generative literature