Sber's GigaChat writes continuation of Gogol's Dead Souls; book goes on sale
Version 2: New coverage from RBC, Habr News and CNews adds that Sber's press service confirmed «GigaChat» wrote the continuation, dates Gogol's burning of the original second volume to the night of 24 February 1852, and details the training data and the 11-parameter evaluation system; no independent assessment of the text has appeared.
In short
A novel presented as the second volume of Nikolai Gogol's «Dead Souls», written with Sber's large language model «GigaChat», has gone on sale, according to TASS, iXBT, Habr News, RBC and CNews. iXBT named the book «Мёртвые души. Второй том. Возрождение», saying it is already in online stores with marketplaces and bookshops to follow. RBC and CNews said the bank's press service announced the release; the project involved historians, literary scholars, linguists and engineers and took more than a year, the reports say.
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A novel presented as the second volume of Nikolai Gogol's «Dead Souls», written with Sber's large language model «GigaChat», has gone on sale, according to TASS, iXBT, Habr News, RBC and CNews. iXBT named the book «Мёртвые души. Второй том. Возрождение» and said it is already available in online stores, with a launch on marketplaces and in bookshops to follow in the near future. RBC and CNews said the announcement came from Sber's press service. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
CNews described the release as the first work created by artificial intelligence in the style of a world classic, a claim it attributed to Sber representatives. Habr News noted that Gogol burned his own continuation of the novel in 1852, and CNews dated the burning to the night of 24 February 1852, calling the lost manuscript one of the most mysterious creative catastrophes in world literature. [ 3 , 5 ]
Work on the project lasted more than a year, according to iXBT and CNews, and involved historians, literary scholars, linguists and engineers working with Sber specialists. iXBT and CNews reported that the model was trained on Gogol's collected works, his letters, drafts and notebooks, as well as on works by his contemporaries and on philosophical and biblical texts; CNews named Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Turgenev among the contemporaries and added painting that the writer valued. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
The creators developed a system of 11 criteria for assessing the text, iXBT and CNews reported, covering lexical diversity, syntax, the grotesque, the comic character of the dialogues and the active presence of the author-narrator. According to iXBT, generated fragments were checked by experts to exclude direct copying of the original works and to arrive at new plot and semantic solutions; CNews said each generated episode was checked for uniqueness so that the model produced new meanings rather than compiling the classic's texts. [ 2 , 5 ]
The project also produced 21 illustrations created by «GigaChat» in the style of Alexander Agin, the artist who illustrated the first volume of «Dead Souls», iXBT and CNews reported. iXBT said the project's authors describe the resulting text as built around literary devices characteristic of Gogol's prose, while CNews wrote that the text is “certainly not Gogol” but follows the laws of his narration. [ 2 , 5 ]
The documents give no price, print run or exact release date for the book, and none cites an independent assessment of the AI-written text or of its reception. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]
Why it matters
The launch puts a Russian bank's consumer-facing AI model behind a commercially sold literary work, pushing GigaChat beyond technology coverage into book retail. CNews presents it as the first work created by artificial intelligence in the style of a world classic, an achievement claim made by the company's representatives. No document cites an independent assessment of the text, so the significance rests on the product release and the company's own framing.
Key facts
- A book titled «Мёртвые души. Второй том. Возрождение», a continuation of Gogol's «Dead Souls», was created with Sber's large language model «GigaChat» and has gone on sale. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- RBC and CNews attributed the announcement to Sber's press service. [ 4 , 5 ]
- Work on the project lasted more than a year and involved historians, literary scholars, linguists and engineers alongside Sber specialists. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- The model was trained on Gogol's collected works, his letters, drafts and notebooks, works by his contemporaries, and philosophical and biblical texts, according to iXBT and CNews. [ 2 , 5 ]
- CNews said an evaluation system of 11 parameters was developed, covering lexical diversity, syntax, the grotesque, comic dialogue and the presence of the author-narrator. [ 2 , 5 ]
- Generated episodes were checked by experts for uniqueness so that the model produced new meanings rather than compiling Gogol's texts, according to iXBT and CNews. [ 2 , 5 ]
- The book includes 21 illustrations created by «GigaChat» in the style of Alexander Agin, who illustrated the first volume of «Dead Souls». [ 2 , 5 ]
- Habr News noted that Gogol burned his own continuation of the work in 1852; CNews dated the burning to the night of 24 February 1852. [ 3 , 5 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- A continuation of Gogol's «Dead Souls» created with Sber's «GigaChat» model has gone on sale. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Historians, literary scholars, linguists and engineers took part in the project alongside Sber specialists. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- The model was trained on Gogol's collected works, his letters, drafts and notebooks, works by his contemporaries, and philosophical and biblical texts. [ 2 , 5 ]
- The creators used a system of 11 criteria or parameters to assess the generated text, and generated fragments were checked by experts. [ 2 , 5 ]
- The book includes 21 illustrations created by «GigaChat» in the style of illustrator Alexander Agin. [ 2 , 5 ]
- Sber's press service is the source of the announcement, according to RBC and CNews. [ 4 , 5 ]
Still unclear
- The price, print run and exact release date of the book. The documents say only that the book has gone on sale and will appear on marketplaces and in bookshops; no figures are given.
- Any independent assessment of the literary quality of the AI-written text. The text's Gogol-like devices are described by the project's authors; CNews itself remarks that the result is “certainly not Gogol”, but no outside evaluation is cited.
- Whether the book is the first work created by artificial intelligence in the style of a world classic. CNews attributes this claim to Sber representatives, and no other document supports or disputes it.
- Where the project was carried out and where the book is being sold. No document names a city or location for the event.
- Sales figures or reader reaction to the released book. The documents report the release only and give no sales or reception data.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- TASS reports that the neural-network continuation of «Dead Souls» has gone on sale. [ 1 ]
- iXBT reports that the Sber team's novel «Мёртвые души. Второй том. Возрождение», written with «GigaChat», is on sale, with details of the work, training data and expert review. [ 2 ]
- Habr News reports that «GigaChat» under the guidance of historians, literary scholars, linguists and engineers produced a continuation of «Dead Souls», noting that Gogol burned the original continuation in 1852. [ 3 ]
- RBC reports, citing Sber's press service, that «GigaChat» has written the second volume of «Dead Souls». [ 4 ]
- CNews reports that the «GigaChat»-written novel has gone on sale, adding details of the training data, the 11-parameter assessment system and the 1852 burning of the manuscript. [ 5 ]