Category: Technology

Technology I find interesting and thought I would share

Posted on

My Personal AI policy

Prompt: AI as a humanoid

I know some people are eager to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to AI. And there are others who are just dying to see it take over the world (and maybe replace our incompetent politicians?)

I’m more about using AI as a tool, and I’ve used it several times for world-building. I haven’t used it for my book covers because it actually took longer to get an image just right than my current method.

Then I heard about the developers feeding the AI copyrighted images (bad move) and decided on a personal AI policy.

That was a month ago.

With all the work I had to do with my last short, I hadn’t had time to make one out and now that it’s published, here we are.

  1. No published work on Amazon will have any AI generated anything, unless you count ProWritingAid. This is where the lines get blurred, which is why I don’t understand the all-or-nothing stance against it. If you use a computer or use social media, you are using a form of passive AI that’s been around for ages. Doubly so if you use any form of a grammar editor (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, Grammarly, ProWritingAid, etc). I can get more into that another day.
  2. If I use AI images for any blog post, it will either have a watermark or I will put the origin in the caption.
  3. If I use AI for text, it will be in a quote format attributed to the original site or a screenshot and the attribution in the image or the Caption
  4. If I use AI in social media, I will also say the origin in the post.

Like everything online, social norms will develop. That is until the fearmonger have their way.

prompt: A bunch of crabs in a pot pulling each other down
Via https://labs.openai.com/ (a.k.a. DALL-E)

How is it possible that we aren’t all still using horse and buggies?

Posted on

Under Maintenance

MODx Backend

Not this site, but Zherosha.com is out for a day. It was late by the time I backed everything up and reinstalled the CMS. I need to sleep occasionally.

I should have it up and running sometime tomorrow.

Posted on

AI as a Tool

I write a fictional sci-fi story. The Aliens in this story use an energy source that involves Nuclear energy being infused into a crystal using "ingredient X." "Ingredient X" reacts to most radiation, either neutralizing it, or changing its properties to make it easy to infuse into quartz. The energy infused quartz, when powdered, can be manipulated with other types of energy, even made to change colors to produce images, etc. Explain the properties of "ingredient x" and how it works for the science fiction novel.

Yes, I used ChatGPT, this time to help with world building.

Zherosha is built around an energy source that’s created by using what the Inersiens call “stabilizer.” I wanted to see what chatGPT has to say about it, except I used “Ingredient X” instead.

(the chat: https://chat.openai.com/share/130667a6-669a-472d-83d5-5d520f3fc394)

While I still don’t think ChatGPT is a crappy writer, it’s not bad at helping foster ideas, which is what I’ve been using it for.

A few days ago, I needed to write a speech for the Provisional leader of the US in the new short story series. What kind of American speech it would be without mentioning the founding fathers?

Write a paragraph summary of the founding fathers of the US's vision

And I wrote this:

“I was never much for speeches, and I’m sure you’re all eager to go about your day, so I’ll make this short.” He said.  “The founding fathers had a vision based on the ideals of Enlightenment, brought on by a democratic system, and unhindered by a limited government. Unfortunately, their vision of the protection of natural rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness did not extend to women or certain classes of people. It was time to start fresh and become the America that was truly about equality and freedom.” A smattering of applause came from the room. “Regardless of how you handle your local government in this city, I ask that you consider voting for your representative. Each registered city or town can have one, and until the states settle their borders again.” Murmurs rose from the crowd. “Some former states want to change borders and…” He took a moment to look over the entire room. “It is possible that some states may not want to come back into the Union.” More harsh whispers continued until Ezekiel put up his hand. “I did say ‘may,’” he said. “The purpose of this trip is for me to educate my successor and share information, as well as persuade people to give the United States another chance.” Applause rose from the Auditorium. Ezekiel waited until it died down before continuing. “After your chairperson dismisses us, I would like to talk to the heads of the council.”

While I sort of understand why people are concerned about AI, but I believe if used properly, it can help do so much. Use it like a tool, like how we use robots for manufacturing, or cars instead of horses.

How many missed opportunities are due to fear?

Posted on

Is this the Beginning of the End for Writers?

I’ve had ChatGPT play CLOSAT.

If you never heard of CLOSAT (acronym for Character, Location, Object (of contention) Situation (triggering) Action, Theme), it’s a game that could help encourage writing, especially if you are struggling to come up with any new ideas.

You can check out my first post on the game here.

A few days ago, I wanted to see what ChatGPT would come up with, feeding it the results of a CLOSAT draw.

You can read the result here.

I have to say… Eh.

The story is interesting, but it’s so generic, making me think that as writers, we are safe from losing our jobs, but not for long. The downside is that it’s a little more difficult to tell that a bot wrote it. If someone would have handed it to me with no context, I would have thought it was a writing assignment for school or writing class.

But that’s the problem. If I were to give it more details or guide it more, ChatGPT could be a ghostwriter. Imagine how much time one could save, but how ethical would it be?

What do you think?

Note about the document: Feel free to do as you please with it, but I would like a link back to this post. Even if you don’t, I’m not coming after you for it, but I trust you’ll do the right thing.

 

Posted on

AI Art

craiyon art

I’ve signed up to the DALL-E waiting list, but I haven’t gotten an email back yet. It’s been so long, I’m not even sure what email address I used. So to pass the time, I’ve been using Craiyon to come up with interesting art concepts.

Don’t worry, artists, AI has a long way to go.

I decided to use Craiyon to make some reference images. Taking one of six squares (shown above) and expanding it to the size I need, I can trace it and create my own spaceships for some world-building artwork.

One of these might be on a cover, or rather, my version might end up on a cover.

 Hidden City

Speaking of which – I have to get back to my current WIP.

Posted on

What a coffee fueled sleep deprivation does to me.

The new theme

Why is it, that I happen to do the most creative work around 1 a.m?

I still have some more tweaking, but I’ll have to wait until this weekend. I making a point to only work on writing during the week.

Speaking of which, I made some headway with the finale of the Elizabeth series. It won’t be long , now.

Posted on

I’m on a roll?

BLOG spelled out in scrabble pieces
BLOG Scrabble pieces
Image by Firmbee from Pixabay

Includes referral links

I’m supposed to be writing my book right now, but it’s Sunday and there’s too much going on. So instead, I decided to start blogging again.

I have a few themes picked out, but before I can set it, I need to make more posts. This particular post will test whether or not I got IFTTT working properly with Facebook.

If all works well, I will start posting short stories here and then cross-post them to other sites (minds.com and medium.com).

I haven’t blogged in ages. I’m looking forward to doing so again.