Machine learning, and in particular “deep learning”, have been in the news a lot lately: machine learning lets Google make psychedelic images; machine learning is helping computers to read handwritten text; machine learning lets Facebook match web users to advertisements; machine learning is being used to discover new construction materials. But what is it, and why does it matter to writers? In this talk we’ll learn the basics of neural networks, and see how poets and other writers can use machine learning techniques for creative results.