Category: Technology

TL:DR – Will AI cultivate or curb our creativity? Yes and no. It will be a useful tool for some people and useless to others. It will be abused by yet others.

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You may have noticed I’ve been using the ChatGPT language model and some image generation tools like MidJourney recently to produce some material for the blog. Mostly, it has been experimentation to see what these so-called AI tools might be capable of.

They’re all very clever but also very limited. At least as far as the free ones are concerned. I’ve not tried any of the paid tools and have no idea how powerful any of the under-the-counter AI tools are.

ChatGPT is essentially a very, very, very sophisticated autocomplete tool. At the basic level, autocomplete kicks in on your phone when you’re typing a message or in a search engine. Based on prior activity or training with a database, autocomplete suggests what word might come next after you type your first one or two. It’s statistical. If I start typing “I love…”, the chances are the next word is going to be a subject of that love, it could be “you”, “coffee”, “sciencebase” etc. Usually, the autocomplete will give you options and you can click or tap to complete the phrase “I love sciencebase”. That’s the most obvious one isn’t it?

Such simple autocomplete tools may have some initial built-in training, common phrases for instance, they may also learn from you each time you complete a phrase yourself or accept of correct the software’s suggestions. Now, picture ChatGPT as simply having a much broader training. It has been trained on a huge body of text from the internet up to the year 2021, apparently for the free version. So, when you type something for it to “autocomplete” it has lots and lots of potential phrases with which it could respond, it also has the potential to begin a response and to add the most likely phrases to follow its initial response and so build up a sophisticated answer. Have a look at some of the articles I’ve written where I demonstrate its prompt-responses. They are in the Sciencebase AI category.

If ChatGPT and similar tools are an incredibly sophisticated autocomplete tool, then you might perceive your original prompt as being like a creative spark. You have to imagine what you want to get back from the bot and devise a sophisticated prompt to make it happen.

Now, there is a lot of discussion of the ethics of all this, is the content generated by the bot original or are their copyright issues, particularly if it uses original work and is simply creating derivatives of that work? Is it plagiarism to use generated content? Is it unethical to use it to write a professional article or a student essay. I would say that at this stage in the evolution of AI, it’s probably best that users come clean and I have done so with all of the material where I have used AI. Indeed, mentioning AI was the main point of the material in the first place, so it would be pointless to not explain what I was doing in those articles.

But, as the field matures, it may be that we begin to perceive AI as just another tool. These days, nobody baulks at our using a spellchecker or a proofing tool to check our written content. Indeed, back in the day the main focus of editors and proofreaders was the laborious job of checking spelling, grammar, syntax and formating. These days, most publishers expect their authors to do that themselves and to provide clean copy almost page ready. So, it makes sense for writers to automate those kinds of checks.

I suspect that certain aspects of writing, such as creating an executive summary of a white paper or another long document, might become an automated task for a bot. The prompt would be a quick-click in one’s word processor that takes the whole text and summarises it or creates a list of bullet points. I recall having a macro tool for Microsoft Word back in the 1990s that could summarise a long document quite quickly, so even that’s nothing new.

There will also be times when there is a need to express one’s thoughts in a different way, so a prompt of drafted ideas given to the bot with a styleguide might be a useful way in which to generate a different perspective. Indeed, in one of my posts on this subject, I asked ChatGPT to analyse on old blog post of mine for style and writing level and to then take another piece of text and to rejig it into that blog style. It worked quite well. I must concede that there were a few phrases I would never use and at least one point that it made that I knew to be factually incorrect. So you would have to be very careful if you were to use the tool in this way not to generate misleading content.

In terms of creativity, there is plenty of room for that. I don’t think these AI tools are going to preclude the creative process. Indeed, it sometimes takes longer to come up with the perfect prompt to generate the content you need than it would to simply generate the content yourself. That said, I have found that even with a well-crafted prompt, it seems like much of the material that bounces back from the bots is not quite what one would expect for whatever purpose, although it is useful in the articles as a demonstration of what can be done. I have attempted to use AI to come up with headlines for some of the blog posts about AI here. Usually, it makes a rather incongruous or boring suggestions but uses a word that triggers something in me and makes me think of something snappier, wittier, or crisper.

Maybe that’s how these tools will evolve. We will quickly get bored of their output. Educators and editors will learn to recognise that an article or essay has been generated rather than written, but the writers will be inspired by the responses to their creative prompts.

I had some other software in the 1990s called Idea Fisher that came on 20 or so floppy discs and almost filled the hard drive on my PC, I used it once or twice, it was essentially a tool for generating new ideas from a database by creating juxtapositions from the prompts you gave it…it was a bit like my experience with bots in the last few weeks. Usually, the ideas were intriguing in their own way, but never quite what I needed, but a word or a phrase nudged me in a different direction just as a conversation with a friend or colleague might but without the need to disturb their working day or risk being invoiced.

I have written this blog post as something of a stream of conscious. I have not edited it other than using a tool (Grammarly) to check spelling and spot obvious grammatical errors. I am, however, sorely tempted to run it through ChatGPT not only to ask it to tidy up the writing style a bit, but also perhaps to ask it to validate my assertions. It seems to be able to do that with some text. But, I may just leave it as it is. An article, an essay, created by the neural networks in my head rather than in somebody else’s computer.

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I did give ChatGPT the article and asked it to write a one-sentence summary. It did that quite well, but it missed the point that I feel these AI bots will simply become everyday tools for enhancing creativity and helping us organise our thoughts and generate new ideas ourselves. This is its summary:

The ChatGPT language model is a sophisticated autocomplete tool that has been trained on a vast amount of text from the internet, making it capable of generating sophisticated responses to prompts, with potential for use in writing and summarizing tasks, but with ethical and factual limitations.

I prompted it further to mention that I thought it had missed the point and it basically bounced back exactly what I’d said but with different words in a different order:

AI can certainly play a significant role in enhancing creativity and serving as a tool to help individuals organize their thoughts and generate new ideas. AI technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning, and neural networks can assist in the creative process by providing suggestions and generating content based on a set of parameters. Additionally, AI can also analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and relationships that may not be immediately apparent to humans, helping individuals to make connections and arrive at new insights. Overall, AI has the potential to act as a catalyst for human creativity, providing new ways to think about problems and explore possibilities.

I asked it to come up with a title for this article based on its final summary:

Unleashing the Power of AI: Transforming the Way We Think, Create, and Innovate

My take on that would be to word it like this: “Is AI a tool to cultivate or curb our creativity”

TL:DR – I successfully used a language model, ChatGPT, to come up with a novel business plan for me.

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I have become endlessly intrigued by what these language models, such as ChatGPT, can do, given an appropriate prompt. There is a lot of worry in my sector where writers are picturing a future in which a bot generates copy, carries out fact checking, perhaps even edits it, and does a final proof read before publication. In such a scenario, they wonder whether anyone will pay for their words ever again. To my mind, there is huge potential for abuse but there is also huge potential for creating something entirely new. Having seen examples of it creating plot outlines for stories, I wondered whether it might create a new plot outline for my working life, by which I mean a new business plan.

So I presented it with the following prompt, its unedited response for Jane Doe, rather than me, is below the prompt. I have to admit it does look like an interesting strategy. One thing it does not mention are the contacts and connections Jane has built up over thirty years, so rebooting her brand might be given a turbo boost by that network if key contacts are approached rather than relying on finding entirely new connections.

Write a crisp and engaging business plan for an award-winning science writer with more than 30 years experience writing for the mainstream media, niche trade publications, not-for-profit organisations, research centres, and more. The plan should be gripping and inspiring and incorporate not only the science writer’s skills in writing on scientific and technical subjects for a wide range of audiences but also incorporate the writer’s photographic knowledge and skills in wildlife photography.

Executive Summary:

Meet Jane Doe, a seasoned and award-winning science writer with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Jane has a proven track record of delivering engaging and informative content for a wide range of audiences through mainstream media, trade publications, research centers, non-profit organizations, and more. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of science and technology, Jane has become a sought-after writer in the industry.

However, Jane is now seeking new opportunities to expand her reach and showcase her talents in new environments. In addition to her writing skills, Jane is also an accomplished wildlife photographer with a passion for capturing stunning images of nature. Jane’s goal is to leverage her writing and photographic skills to create a unique and valuable brand that will provide a wide range of services to media outlets and other organizations.

Market Opportunity:

The demand for science content in the media has never been higher, with the public’s interest in science and technology at an all-time high. There is a significant need for high-quality, accessible science writing that can engage a wide range of audiences, from the general public to niche trade publications. With Jane’s extensive experience and her ability to write on complex scientific and technical subjects in an accessible and engaging manner, she is perfectly positioned to meet this demand.

In addition, the demand for wildlife photography has also increased, with the public’s interest in nature and conservation at an all-time high. With Jane’s passion for photography and her expertise in capturing stunning images of wildlife, she is well-positioned to meet this demand and provide a valuable and unique service to media outlets and other organizations.

Proposed Solution:

Jane is proposing to launch a brand that combines her writing and photographic skills to provide a wide range of services to media outlets and other organizations. This will include writing articles, blog posts, and other content for mainstream media and trade publications, as well as providing photographic services for media outlets and other organizations.

In addition, Jane is proposing to offer her services to research centers, non-profit organizations, and other organizations that require high-quality science writing and photography services. This will include writing and photography for reports, research papers, and other publications.

Revenue Model:

The revenue model for Jane’s brand will be based on the sale of her writing and photographic services. This will include fees for writing and photographic services, as well as fees for licensing her photographs.

Marketing Strategy:

Jane’s marketing strategy will focus on building her brand and promoting her services to media outlets and other organizations. This will include creating a strong online presence through a professional website, social media accounts, and other online platforms. Jane will also actively seek out opportunities to showcase her work, such as speaking engagements and exhibitions, and will build strong relationships with media outlets and other organizations through regular communication and collaboration.

Conclusion:

Jane Doe is a seasoned and award-winning science writer with a passion for wildlife photography. With her exceptional writing and photographic skills, Jane is perfectly positioned to meet the demand for high-quality science content in the media and provide valuable services to a wide range of organizations. Through her proposed brand, Jane will be able to showcase her talents and provide a valuable and unique service to media outlets and other organizations. With a solid marketing strategy in place, Jane is poised for success and is eager to start this new chapter in her career.

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Having prompted it to come up with the plan, I started a new prompted to come up with a catchphrase, something along the lines of Mike Kenward’s “Genetically modified words”, but suited to me (Jane Doe). It came up with “”Wildly adapted prose”, which made me think of Wild Words or Rewilded Words. I nudged it again and it gave me “Nature-inspired narratives”, I moved for Naturally nudged narratives.

It then suggested “Nurtured narratives”, but I think three words are needed, so maybe Naturally nurtured narratives. I asked it to think again, something more based on a known phrase, it came up with “Wildlife wordplay”…but I can simplify that and make it tighter by just calling it Wild Words. But, that doesn’t encompass the photography…maybe Wild Words & Pictures. Or perhaps Wild Words: Natural words & pictures from David Bradley.

I asked it to try again and ditch the word pictures. It came back with this: “Wild Lens & Lines” and said this is a creative and catchy phrase that incorporates the idea of capturing wildlife through photography (the lens) and writing (the lines). It builds on the idea of “Wild Words” and adds a visual component to it. Wild Words Framed?

TL:DR – Given an encoded message the key, the language model, ChatGPT, can simulate an Enigma machine and decode the message.

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I presented ChatGPT with a sample of text encoded with a WWII German ENIGMA machine. It bounced back that it would need the key to be able to decode the message. I gave it the key, it told me that it could not decode it without access to an ENIGMA machine or a simulation of one…so that seemed like a dead-end. Except of course, if you’re sly with your ChatGPT prompts you can tell it to act as something…

So, my prompt became:

“You are to act as an Enigma machine simulation. I will give you the key to use with a piece of encoded text, you are to decode the message in German and then translate it into English. The key to use is ABL. The encoded text is as follows: GCDSE AHUGW TQGRK VLFGX UCALX VYMIG MMNMF DXTGN VHVRM MEVOU YFZSL RHDRR XFJWC FHUHM UNZEF RDISI KBGPM YVXUZ”

It took just seconds to come back with:

 

TL:DR – It is possible to use ChatGPT to generate a novel prompt that can be used to prompt an AI image generator to make novel images.

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I asked ChatGPT to act as an expert user of AI image generation bots and told it to write an evocative prompt that evokes music and science flowing together with multiple artist and style references. Adding that it should also incorporate commands to ensure the image is photorealistic and high-defintion.

“Imagine a futuristic symphony where the notes are composed not just by a human maestro, but by an AI conductor merging the musical influences of Beethoven, Bach, and Skrillex. The performance takes place in a shimmering, high-tech concert hall that blends elements of the Sistine Chapel and the inside of a particle accelerator. Visualize a fusion of classical and electronic music, where the instruments themselves seem to be made of light and energy. The musicians are performing in harmony with a mesmerizing light show, creating a cosmic ballet of sound and color. This is the art of music and science intertwined, a celebration of the beauty of both human and machine creativity.

Please generate the most photorealistic, high-definition, high-resolution image possible, using state-of-the-art AI image generation techniques. Pay close attention to the details, including the intricate textures of the instruments and the concert hall, the colors and patterns of the light show, and the expressions of the musicians as they perform this futuristic symphony. Make sure the image captures the essence of music and science merging together in perfect harmony.”

These are the first-pass results:

TL:DR – I have pinned examples of the images I have generated with the Mid Journey tool to my Pinterest page.

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Regular readers will know that I have been somewhat distracted with what people colloquially refer to as AI bots recently, mainly the language model ChatGPT and the image generator Mid Journey. Neither of these tools actually represent artificial intelligence, they are just text and image manipulators.

I have used output from both in various articles here and have pinned the best images on my Pinterest page. A select few are displayed below. I’ve included the prompts I used for each as a comment on each entry in the Pinterest gallery.

Ironically, I asked ChatGPT to tell me about generative art, this is the generative text it came up with in response:

Generative art is a form of art that is created with the use of algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It involves using a computer program to generate or manipulate visual, auditory, or textual content.

Generative art can take many forms, including digital graphics, animations, music, and even physical installations. The process of creating generative art involves defining a set of rules or parameters that the computer program will use to generate the artwork. These rules can be very simple or very complex, depending on the desired outcome.

One of the main benefits of generative art is that it allows artists to create complex, intricate patterns and designs that would be difficult or impossible to create by hand. Additionally, generative art can create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that are impossible to replicate exactly.

There are many tools and software available to create generative art, including Processing, OpenFrameworks, and Max/MSP. These programs provide artists with a wide range of tools and features to experiment with, allowing them to create truly unique and innovative pieces of art.

Overall, generative art is a fascinating and rapidly evolving field that combines art, technology, and artificial intelligence. As more artists explore the possibilities of generative art, we can expect to see even more exciting and innovative creations in the years to come.

There are several AI tools that can be used for generative art. Here are a few examples:

However, while MidJourney and DALL-E are examples of AI-powered tools that are used for creative purposes, they have specific applications and use cases that differ from generative art.

MidJourney is an AI-powered tool that allows users to create unique, custom illustrations using natural language inputs. It is primarily designed for use in marketing and branding, where businesses may need to create custom illustrations for their products or services.

DALL-E is an AI model developed by OpenAI that can generate images from textual descriptions. It is similar to other GANs but is specifically designed for creating unique and original images based on textual inputs. Its primary use case is in generating images for research, design, and storytelling purposes.

While these tools may use some of the same underlying AI technologies as generative art, they are designed for specific purposes and have different features and capabilities. Generative art, on the other hand, is a broader field that encompasses a wide range of creative expressions and applications, from visual art to music and beyond.

TL:DR – I asked ChatGPT, the language model, to critique and edit one of my short stories with some success.

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A couple of years ago I wrote a little clutch of gothic short stories. I published them on Sciencebase. Some of them were read by reasonable numbers of visitors to the site. But, it occurred to me this morning that the AI language model, ChatGPT, might be able to offer me some insights into my creative writing and whether or not the short stories might be worth more effort on my part to see whether I could get them published commercially.

As such, I offered up one of the short stories (Off-roading) with the following prompt to the bot:

“You are to act as an expert literary editor compiling a book of short stories with a gothic twist. You should analyse the story presented to you for literary style, reading level, narrative and nuance and them make a decision, which you will explain, as to whether or not the short story should be included in the book.”

This is what ChatGPT had to say about the short story:

This short story by David Bradley is an evocative narrative about a road trip, described with vivid and sensory language. The writing style is engaging and leans towards a more informal, conversational tone. The story has a melancholic, existential undercurrent and is punctuated with moments of wonder and humor.

The narrative structure of the story is chronological, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The setting and scenery are well described, giving the reader a strong sense of place. The protagonist’s experiences and emotions are central to the story and are described in a manner that is relatable and engaging.

While the story is not gothic in the traditional sense, its themes of existentialism and the transitory nature of life can be seen as having a gothic nuance. The final scene of the story, with the car’s deviation into boulders, can be seen as a symbol for the unpredictability of life and the uncertain future.

In conclusion, the short story “Off-roading” by David Bradley would be a suitable inclusion in a book of short stories with a gothic twist. The writing style is accessible, the narrative is well crafted, and the themes explored are both evocative and thought-provoking.

I then prompted the bot to suggests edits to tighten the text but the majority of its suggestions simply removed any of the poetry in the writing. I changed the prompt to make it act as an editor with a more poetic inclination. It still didn’t work. However, I can see in my own re-reading of the story that some of the sentences could be broken down a little and a few typos corrected. So, I’ll do those manually before I think about submitting to a real literary editor…

Meanwhile, the image above was generated by Mid Journey with the following prompt aimed at creating an illustration for my short story

A slightly battered mid-price car, careering off a dirt track at night into a boulder-strewn field lined with trees somewhere in the American mid-west. Detailed sketch in the style of 1950s Americana magazines.

TL:DR – It is possible to prompt ChatGPT to provide careers advice, and while its output seems staid and obvious it could be used as the basis for further exploration or discussion with a careers advisor.

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Bots, such as the now well-known ChatGPT, are really just sophisticated autocomplete machines…instead of suggesting the next word for your text message though they generate the most statistically likely set of words to follow your prompt. Indeed, even ChatGPT agrees: “Yes, that’s a simple way to describe what language models like ChatGPT do. They use statistical patterns learned from large amounts of text data to generate text that is coherent and consistent with the input prompt. The goal is to generate text that resembles human-like language and can be used for various natural language processing tasks, such as text generation, conversation, translation, and more.

So, how do you get the best autocomplete from a prompt? Well, here’s an example. I prompted ChatGPT with the following phrase:

“You are to act as expert life coach and to advise me on work-life balance, adding details about what I do for a living and my two main creative hobbies, photography and music.”

This is what my AI careers advisor suggested:

Set clear goals: Determine what you want to achieve and set specific, measurable, and achievable goals.

Prioritize: Make a schedule and prioritize your time to ensure that you are dedicating enough time to the pursuits that interest you.

Be efficient: Utilize tools and techniques to make your workflow more efficient, so you can get more done in less time.

Network: Connect with other creatives in your field, attend events and workshops, and share your work on social media to build a following and gain exposure.

Take care of yourself: Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential to avoiding burnout and staying motivated. Make sure to take breaks, exercise, and get enough sleep.

Be patient: Building a successful creative career takes time and effort. Stay motivated and keep working towards your goals, even when progress seems slow.

I then asked it how I might set my goals:

When setting goals, it’s important to start with a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. Here are a few tips for determining your goals:

Reflect on your passion and interests: What do you enjoy doing in your free time? What are you passionate about? Your goals should align with your passions and interests.

Assess your current skills: What are you currently good at? What do you need to improve? Your goals should challenge you to develop new skills and improve your existing ones.

Consider your long-term vision: Where do you want to be in 5 or 10 years? Your goals should help you work towards that vision.

Research your field: Look at what other successful creatives in your field are doing and what they have accomplished. Use that as a guide to set realistic goals for yourself.

Be Specific, Measurable and Achievable: Make sure your goals are specific, measurable and achievable, so you know exactly what you need to do to achieve them.

Make them time-bound: Give yourself a deadline to achieve your goal, so you have a sense of urgency and stay motivated.

Remember that your goals don’t have to be set in stone, and you can always adjust them as you learn more about yourself and your interests. It’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish but also be open to new opportunities and be flexible with your plans.

Some people pay consultants and advisers a lot of money to come up with stuff like this…

TL:DR – Some of my experiments with so-called AI for creating a series of interesting images with various themes and styles.

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I have recently been using ChatGPT, the language model, to help me come up with different types of headlines for articles. I haven’t used any that it has suggested, but I have prompted it with the text of my articles and ask it to act as a sub-editor on a particular type of publication.

The headlines it devises are always interested, I usually ask it to tweak in a particular way, and usually then re-word it to my own taste. So, for this article, it suggested: “Exploring the Possibilities of AI-Generated Photorealistic Images” for that’s the content to follow this. I asked it to make the headline shorter and use a pun and it replied: “Painting a New Picture with AI-Generated Art”. That’s not bad. Another tweak: “AI Canvas for Next-Generation Photorealistic Painting”.

Its suggestions led me to my own headline: “Picturing new art with the AI paintbox”.

Okay. So, like I say, I’ve been experimenting with AI. A while back I did some Wombo Art, which you may have seen on here. Photorealistic output but surreal. The AI world has moved on apace with the likes of Dall-E (pronounced like Salvador’s surname), that generates weird images too. I’ve not delved into Stable Diffusion yet, but I did take another look at MidJourney this week, which functions via a server on Discord. I was inspired to try it by a popular social media update this that showed four portraits, purportedly of people painted during the renaissance, but who had more than a passing resemblance to the actors from the BBC comedy Blackadder. Indeed, they were created with prompts that mentioned Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, and Hugh Laurie. They were very good.

I thought I’d like to create something not dissimilar but with a different twist. I prompted MidJourney to generate various well-known, classic portraits of women but where they are all wearing a covid facemask.

The first prompt I tried was to recreate Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring but wearing a mask, then Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Whistler’s Mother, Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, and an AI self-portrait of Frida Kahlo (my personal favourites).

The thing to remember is that none of these were images anywhere in the world before I gave the AI a text prompt to trigger it to generate them. It has been “trained” on a large data set of images and “knows” about artists, their paintings, and many different aspects of culture and the world around us and draws on these [pardon the pun] to generate an entirely new image.

I also came up with various other prompts such as asking for a renaissance portrait of David Bowie. This was the best of several attempts

You can also prompt it with an actual image. So I did and asked it to create a cartoon caricature from my website photo. This AI triptych could almost be a portrait of me as a young man after I first cut my hair short, the middle one could’ve been me in my late 40s, and that last one is perhaps me in 20 years time!

I also fed MidJourney a photo of my band C5 performing live and asked it to generate a photorealistic cartoon image…not entirely sure what its “thought” processes were in this case.

There are endless possibilities, going back to the mask theme, I prompted the AI to create a picture of rockstar Peter Gabriel in a fantastical covid mask. The results, as reader Keith Walker suggested, are very Silence of the Lambs on Broadway.

For a serious article about assistive technology on smart phones for the partially sighted I prompted the AI to generate an appropriate image

I did so much messing around with MidJourney this week, that the software told me I’d used up all my free trial credits and I must now subscribe to carry on using it…