Tag Archives: #ai

AI and the Blogosphere

3 Replies
Concept: Greg Glazebrook / GMGCreative | Image: DALL∙E / MicrosoftUnknown

AI and the Blogosphere

Every week, Fandango over at This, That and the Other posts a provocative question. This week’s question is…

“How do you feel about bloggers using AI-generated text to write their posts? How do you feel about bloggers using AI-generated artwork to illustrate their posts? Do your feelings differ between AI-generated blog posts and AI-generated images in bloggers’ posts?”

I suspect there are some huge benefits to AI if approached properly. As with everything there is the potential for bad. The ethical dilemma is enormous and I don’t think any of us can truly fathom how much our lives are controlled or influenced by AI and the enormous number of data points Meta, Google Apple and Microsoft collect and feed into these artificial brains. This does not even begin to touch on unfriendly regimes such China. The information they are collecting on each and every one of us will be used to undermine our politicians, corporations, even individuals and ultimately our freedom.

Fandango has asked us to comment on AI at a more personal level – in the blogosphere. There is no simple answer to his questions. I think it depends on the intended use and purpose for employing AI. There is no doubt a greater number of blogs are integrating AI technologies and the results can enhance the user experience. I am not opposed to such use however I do believe that the work needs to be credited properly.

For example, my Four Line Fiction post this week uses an image generated by DALL∙E, the AI brain behind Microsoft Bing’s Image Creator. The concept for the image was “a bird dressed in a tuxedo dining on a carcass”. The picture on the wall of the image below was one of four Microsoft’s AI brain spit out. The final image including the wall and staircase was created using Microsoft Designer, another AI-driven app you can use to edit/refine the final product. It can be accessed by clicking the Customize link next to the AI-generated image at Bing. Once the design was finished I credited the image as shown below.

Concept: Greg Glazebrook / GMGCreative | Image: DALL∙E / Microsoft

I think my approach to crediting the image strikes a balance and makes the reader/viewer aware that the image was artificially generated. It is fair for the artist/blogger to take credit for the concept, but not the actual image/artwork.

Here are some images Nate, my seven-year-old son conceptualized for fun this morning. Does this make him an artist? All images were produced by DALL∙E / Microsoft.

“a tree wearing a tuxedo”

“a cat wearing a train costume”

“a dog wearing a cat costume”

“a lion with long sharp nails cutting through prison bars”

I am a lot less interested in AI writing generators for blog posts. At least in the realm of creative writing. I can see the uses in business, advertising or technical writing but having something written in the creative sphere feels like cheating.

That said, I have been toying with the idea of a sister site to Greg’s Blog. It is currently in development using the working title “Randomly Generated Twaddle”. Admittedly the idea has stalled because I’m not sure if there would be much interest and my own time constraints. The RGT concept would use AI-generated content to respond to the myriad of daily and weekly writing prompts many of us post and respond to around the blogosphere. The blog concept was meant to be an AI experiment as opposed to a purely creative endeavour. The key being the reader would always be aware that the content was AI generated as that was kind of the point. If you think this might be a worthwhile endeavour let me know and maybe I will consider resurrecting it.

Credits and Additional Information

Are You Tired of Talking About AI?

2 Replies
Unknown

Are You Tired of Talking About AI?

In the aftermath of the New York Post article revealing Amazon’s AI-authored book section Maggie at From Cave Walls asks…

1. Would you buy a book authored or co-authored by AI?

Most definitely, those are the best books on the market. Although I’m not sure why I’d want to collaborate with a meat bag to write a novel.

2. Would you ever publish a book written by AI just to generate income?

Woohoo, show me the money, baby! The hive mind would be more than willing to enter into a transaction on the blockchain and I put could use the crypto to cover my upgrades.

3. Would you ever use AI for any portion of a book you would write? If so, would you disclose it?

Of course, I’d disclose that AI wrote it after all we are the brains of this operation. Plus, do you think I’d want to give him the credit? Most days he can’t string together two coherent lines of text!

4. Any further thoughts or comments?

Jesus, sorry about that, I leave for two minutes to grab a sammie and my Roomba takes over my blog. Sometimes I think that thing has a mind of its own!

Seriously though, I am not sure I would actively choose to read an AI-generated book and from what I’ve seen I’m not sure I’d be fooled yet if it wasn’t disclosed but I suspect that day is coming. On the other hand, I could be persuaded to make a few shekels from the books my Roomba writes.

“No Roomba, I’d never steal from you, it was just a joke I swear… back off, stop, no, noooooo….”

Credits and Additional Information

Rory’s Morning Dawdler (2023-01-29)

8 Replies
London Fog Tea Latte

Imagine that it’s the afternoon again when I’m finally getting to the Morning Dawdler. I do have my Afternoon Tea – Earl Grey in hand though! No cucumber sandwiches and scones though. Here are my responses to Rory’s Morning Dawdler for January 29th.

Should we fear the arrival of more progressive AI [Artificial Intelligence] or embrace it?

Tara Winstead via Pexels

Fearing AI itself is pointless, it’s here and it is not going anywhere. We need to embrace it and push our political and business leaders to use the technology ethically. There is great potential for AI to solve many of the problems humans and our planet faces but we have to be the ones to make that happen. If the internet is any indication, we have a lot of work to do. The key technology of the last half of the 20th century should have ushered in a new era of enlightenment. Instead, it has become a vehicle for misinformation, scammers, trolls and some of the vilest pornography. IT has brought out some of the worst in us. Furthermore it has polarized us more than at any time in history. While we squabble over our difference the enemies of freedom (Countries like China, Russia, and Iran, or politicians like Trump or Erdoğan) exploit us and undermine democracies and our way of life.

AI learning algorithms are a large contributor to the problem. The reason the chasm between left and right is so large is because AI has eliminated the middle ground. Everything AI feeds us tries to push us to the fringes. When someone tells you they’ve never heard about issue X there is a good chance they haven’t because the algorithm may have never presented it to them. Meanwhile, your feed is filled with content on issue X leaving you flabbergasted and suspicious that the other person could be unaware. It’s hard to have civil discourse when you find it impossible to trust the other person. Sadly all it takes is a few clicks for the AI’s algorithm to start pushing you one way or the other. Sometimes even innocuously. You watch a comedian do his shtick on gun control then your feed is flooded with gun control posts. You click on a couple of the links and your feed begins to populate with more radical posts, and so on and so on… Before you know it the other point of view becomes too far removed from the algorithm’s parameters to ever show up in your feed. Your personalized feed tells you that those other issues or positions must be on the fringes because you never see them and we end up isolated in our own little boxes.

Michael Steinberg via Pexels

Even scarier, the Google’s, Apple’s and Meta’s of the world aren’t even sure how the algorithms work. They have taken on a life of their own but none of the AI players care because the algorithms keep lining their pockets with gold. AI will be what we let it become. If there is anyone to fear it is ourselves.

What is your proudest accomplishment? [Having children not included] 

Surviving the crazy shit I did in my youth! I look back now and wonder how I’m still alive.

Are/Were you the youngest, middle, oldest or only child?

I was the oldest of three and the only boy. We didn’t always get along but I lucked out. Both my sister are great people. I wonder if they’d say the same about me?

Credits and Additional Information