Getting Creative With AI

USING AI - A CONFESSION OF SORTS

I'm still not sure why everyone is afraid of AI? Instead of working with it, finding new ways to use it, new ways to make our life easier - they ignore, put their head in the sand, and murmur phrases like "there goes my job".

When AI turns evil

Just a small observation, but haven't computers been taking over our jobs for years? They've automated things and do all the crappy jobs that seem mind numbing. Imagine hand calculating a big old accounting spreadsheet? Hell, handwriting all your correspondence and sending it by snail-mail? It's impossible to imagine in today's world. 

Now I'm not being an idiot here, I can imagine those extreme dystopian scenarios; AI becoming too smart for our own good and destroying the world as we know it. But, what are the odds of that happening? Probably slim to none. How about we focus on the good things here. How about we get AI to work for us, make us more productive, take away more of those mindless jobs that nobody likes to do? 

I know for me, I've been using AI to help me do things I would never have been able to accomplish on my own. I use it to save time and brainpower, which I then apply to more creative and satisfying tasks. Here comes a sales plug: if you don't know, I create notebooks, spreadsheets, and other digital products that I sell on Etsy (see Magnetic North Press). Coming up with product descriptions and SEO keywords is time consuming and really taxes my brain power. But, with a prompt into the old AI chatbot I'm given a head start. The wording may not be perfect, it is typically very generic and repetitive, but the best part is that it is started. Like a first draft. Then I go in there and add the finishing touches. Instead of an hour or two brain draining paragraphs, I can be finished in ten minutes.

Same process for SEO keywords. AI is great at brainstorming. I can get a list of ten, twenty, a thousand (if I want) ideas to use for keywords. Again, they are not perfect, but they are a wonderful starting point. They are the motivation to keep going. Ten minutes later I have a great list of keywords I'm inputting into the sales description. I could have come up with many of the same keywords, but it would have taken time and energy. It's something I do not really enjoy doing either. So, I save time and frustration this way and probably come up with a better selection of keywords than I would have on my own. 

Using AI to respond to emails - funny meme

Even after months of using AI to spit out pictures, product descriptions, or responses to emails, I'm still shocked at what it can do. 

The other day I asked it to come up with a fake interview with a robot that doesn't like new technology. Then I used that conversation as the background to a picture I was working on. I kind of felt bad when I ended up covering most of the text with pictures and other stuff (it was only a part of the background), because the writing was actually pretty funny.

Using AI generated text in a creative work

There are so many things you can use AI for. It's not going to replace the creative part of life, but only add to it. It's another tool that can be used to speed things along, to give you a leg up on things you might not be good at or things you hate to do. It could turn into some devil machine that takes over humanity, but the odds are almost non-existent. So go take some control back and use it like you'd use a shovel instead of your bare hands.

AI - Ain't nobody got time for dat.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov, a philosophical discussion

The Foundation book used in a philosophy class.

Foundation Series by Asimov

My daughter headed off to University this September and signed up for that polarizing class of Philosophy. Just like Accounting 101 or Creative Writing for the non-creative, the topic of Philosophy is one of those subjects you either love or hate. No middle ground, and I'm going to stand firm on that statement.

Anyway, I looked over her booklist and cringed at the names. Plato, Socrates, Hercules...all the classics. Those heavily annotated, footnoted, translated, and still impossible to read, writings by toga wearing Greeks. 

BUT, a big but, then I saw a title and author that brought light to my heart - Foundation by Isaac Asimov. WTF? Foundation is a philosophy book?!

Is Foundation a sci-fi book or a philosophy book?

No, no, no. Foundation is not one of those fancy-dancy high browed thinker books. It's a sci-fi story of a galactic empire collapsing and being built up again. There are no deep quotes that can describe the book like, "Men are disturbed not by things but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things" (Epictetus). Nope, it's a book that is actually fun to read (Philosophy is roasted!). Foundation is not something that I would shelve under Philosophy. If anything I would put it under 'Space Opera'.

Am I missing something?

I reread the book with a different mindset. I did my best thinking man pose, put on my ancient Greek philosopher toga, grabbed some wine and grapes, and settled into a public bath with my old paper copy of Foundation.

Holy crap, there were a lot of philosophical questions raised in this book.

One overwhelming idea is about nation/empire cycles. Are we destined to always repeat the same rise and fall of nations? Is appears that Asimov thinks so. Foundation takes place thousands and thousands of years in the future, and we are still doing the boom and bust of nations - just in the future it is on a galactic scale.

This reminds me of another book I read recently: Ray Dalio's best seller - The Changing World Order : Why Nations Succeed and Fail 

Dalio's book explains how nations rise up, build empires, rule the world...then fail. Time and time again from the Romans, through the British Empire, to the United States of today, nations have followed very similar paths. His theory relies on historical data and human psychology.

In the Foundation book Asimov shows us a galactic empire following this rise and fall pattern. The Ray Dalio of the book is named Hari Seldon and he uses the new science of Psychohistory (a mix of psychology and history...see the connection?) to bring everything down to a mathematical equation - and the equation shows a galactic collapse is imminent. Seldon uses this new science to come up with a plan to save humanity from 30,000 years of dark times to rebuild, and cut that rebuilt time to only 1,000 years. 

This brings up that great philosophical discussion on free will and determinism. If we as humans keep repeating this cycle over and over again, do we actually have free will?

According to Dalio's theory and Asimov's Foundation story, we might not have as much free will as we want to believe we have. The future is already marked out for us. Maybe not exact down to the minute dates and times. We can't say exactly when a nation/empire will fail, but we can say that at some point in one hundred years it will. That's just the nature of human beings.

In Foundation Hari Seldon uses his Psychohistory to predict the future. Throughout the book, time and time again, it drives home the point that that the future is predetermined. In fact, some of the ways out of the many crisis points is to do nothing at all. Is this book saying in the grand scheme of things we have no free will, no impact, on the destiny of human kind? 

That's something to discuss in Philosophy class.

Geez, I guess I missed the mark on this book when I read it the first time. I just took it on the surface, as a sci-fi story about rebuilding human civilization in the far distant future, not a book about free will and determinism as a species!

The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy - EARLY EDITION!

It looks like I've found myself a 1979 Edition! Not the first printing, but a first edition!

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy 1979

- Douglas Adams - 

Where did I get this book you ask?

The library at the College is in the process of discarding old or undercirculating books. These rejected books are put on a cart outside of the library and should be give a sign, "in need of new home" - like a box full of kittens. I can't help but go through the books, picking them up, admiring them, even petting a few. Most of them I put back, but a few I just can't bear to leave. Some of them I remember reading -that exact book. It seems that I'm the only person in the College who still goes through the literary section and takes out hardcopy books. This discard-cart gets refilled every day or two, which is anxiety inducing to me. What if I miss the initial refill? What books could go to unfit homes? Imagine the old copy of Atlas Shrugged goes to a smoker's house! This random rubbish letting has become a bit of a problem for me. My latest find has made my condition even worse.

A copy of The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Universe! Sitting there on the cart, almost calling me to take it home. I snatched it up with my lightning fast free-book reflexes! I knew it was old, but what I didn't realize was that it was a first (or at least very, very, early edition). Imagine my luck! And to top if off it was free! This is a story I will tell to my great-grandkids.

The best part is the history of this book. It's all right there in on the first page. A due date card!

It looks like this book was first signed out in 1983 and only 25 times since! I can verify from my daily haunts of the library, that that book was always on the shelf. Do you know how many times I considered taking it out, even though I have my own copy at home? At least twice, maybe three times. That's how much this book means to me. 

Remember my previous posts about The Hitch Hikers Guide? The only book I've ever wrote in the margins, on the pages, and all that?

The book gods were looking out the day I passed the reject cart. May you have just as much luck on your next book shopping trip.

SHOCKING FUTURE :  A Collection Of Twisted Tales

My first collection of short stories has been published!

I've put together an outstanding mix of sci-fi and fantasy tales, that hint at the macabre, with a splash of humour, and a hockey sock full of great characters to root for.

The first story you'll lay your eyes on is one about a little gremlin named Pearson. He is at that awkward age between child and adult, and trying to find his way. His friend, and rival, compare stories of their gremlin tricks while they test the edges of their gremlin culture. A love interest is the spark that brings everything to a head and changes the lives of all the gremlins in the community.

The Big Payout, gives us a behind the scenes look at a futuristic streaming game show where both contestants and viewers can win big money...or lose their lives. Merc is this weeks contestant, and one lucky guy. He works his way through the various rounds winning more and more money. When it comes to the final round he must gambling with not only his life, but the life of his family and friends. Will he win the Big Payout?

To lighten the mood in between these heavy stories, I've offered up something on the humourous side - The Adventures of Chuck and Sampson. These two members of the Galaxy Union find themselves in some awkward situations; first in their spacecraft, then on a deserted asteroid, and finally when they are being rescued by socially strict aliens.

Numbers is another highlight of the book. A heist / escape story where Khic, a fiesty inmate at a futuristic penal planet, and her crew use some old fashioned brain power to outsmart the high tech security systems that keep them penned up.

There are a few other small page turners thrown in for good measure. I mean, who wouldn't like to imagine what a truck stop of the future would look like? Or that a small misinterpretation could lead to a wild chase around a space station? They are the kind of stories that you can read in Shocking Future!

Get your hands on all of this now, in paperback or e-book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D836XQ3X

Robert's Rules of Writing - 101 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know

 Robert's Rules of Writing

- Robert Masello - 

I typically cruise the library on my lunch break. I work at a local college, with a well stocked library only steps from my office, which is a real perk for a bookworm like me. Over the years I've been reading my way through the small section on creative writing, and I've recently ran across this gem. Robert's Rules of Writing.

I have no idea who Robert is. I can tell you, he thinks very highly of himself, and makes it out like he is one of those prolific writers of sit-coms and movies. One of those all-star writers who quietly type away in the background, not looking for fortune or fame, just sharing their gift of writing with the world...okay, after a quick google search I found out this guy is a prolific writer (with 20 good sized books, credits in many television shows, and other journalistic stuff).

Interesting, because I found his 101 tips to be almost common knowledge when it comes to realm of writing tips. I'm not saying that is a bad thing. I'm saying there are only so many 'tips and tricks' you can give out to aspiring writers. I think 101 is the limit. If you've read a few similar books, watched a dozen 'how-to-write' youtube videos, and spent hours looking through writer's memes, you'll have run across most of Robert's tips.

What I found most interesting about the book was the aesthetics. The ripped paper with typewriter font tips was just my style. Along with a few vertical titles and quotes and a different coloured page or two, made this book feel fresh and creative. That added to the tips, at least in my book.

Is this a must have book for writer's or aspiring writers? Sure. It does have lots (101 is a lot of tips) of valid and useful tips. It is at least a good book to read, just for the repetition of common writing ideas and the inspiration it lights in the heart of a writer.

Good job Robert. Sorry, I didn't know who you were.

The Fountainhead Ayn Rand

 The Fountainhead

- Ayn Rand -

This is one mammoth book, full of Rand's ideals, her arguments, and her manifesto on being selfish...and how that is the best thing for humanity. Is being selfish the best way to live?

What I found interesting were some of her ideas about being selfish. The main character, an architect named Rourk, only works for himself. He only does projects he is interested in. He will not be swayed by outside advice or influence. And, in the rare case when one of his buildings gets changed without his approval, he blows it up with dynamite. He is that extreme. He does not seek outside praise, and only looks inside himself for pride and self esteem.

Isn't that an interesting idea? Being so confident in yourself that you will go years without working, live in poverty, be looked upon as strange, because you think you are so good at designing a building that you could never co-operate or compromise with anyone else.

If you truly were the best architect there ever was, this would be a wonderful idea. But, in the book, it just comes across as being rude, anti-social, and almost lazy in a way (since Rourk rarely gets any work.) In real life, this kind of person would not get along well, not have a career, and not make an impact on the world. There has to be a little compromise, even if it is just in the beginning of a career. But, that's Rand for you, takes things to the extreme.

Did I like reading the book. Heck yes! The writing and story are great. I whipped through the six or seven hundred pages and didn't find any section boring or slow. Rand is an excellent writer. It's just hard to get past the extreme ideas of selfishness and uncompromising ideals that her characters hold. It makes them seem mean! They are constantly hurting each other, trying to ruin each other, and then holding themselves up as virtuous people for doing it. For example Dominique loves Roark so much that she uses her influence to stop anyone from hiring him. Her reason is that Roark's buildings are so great that nobody would appreciate them enough, so they don't deserve to have them.

Imagine you are an architect. Your girlfriend makes it her life's meaning to stop you from designing any buildings. Is that love or what? And the worst part is that Rourk understands her motives and approves of her actions. That's messed up. It's these kind of things that make the book hard to believe. It caused a bit of rise in me too, which may be why I couldn't put down the book.

It's like when I read her other novel, Atlas Shrugged. To me they both feel like the same kind of tone and ideas. I got the same kind of response while reading that book too. Rand sure doesn't shy away from some far right wing idea, which is why it's great to read. Give you some balance, some reasons into why others may not think the same way as you. 

So, if you have a few days to spare. Like to read dense prose. And love extreme characters. Then Rand is for you.

OFF-EARTH Ethical Questions and Quandaries For Living In Outer Space

OFF EARTH

- Erika Nesvold -

With Musk making plans to settle Mars, it's time to think about the ethics of living in space.

Off-Earth is a great overview of some of the things we should be thinking about, like should we even settle other planets? Who is going to be the settlers? What kind of laws will we use? Equity? Customs and rules? So many things, big and small, to consider.

I picked up this book from my local library, I'm a sucker for the NEW RELEASE SCI-FI wall, and I slowly made my way through all the pages. It wasn't earth shattering, or even a book I'd say is required reading. But it made me start to think.

With all this hype about putting people on the Moon, maybe even Mars, I get excited. I picture Star Trek, and the countless Sci-Fi stories I've read. Astronauts floating in space, planting flags in craters, mining exotic minerals, etc.

But what about reality, the day to day functioning of space. Currently there is a very weak, vague, UN charter on Space. And, who really follows UN rules anyway? The only real rule seems to be that no country is allowed to claim a planet to themselves. Kind of like Antarctica here on Earth. But who is going to actually enforce this? 

The book brings up many topics that one might not think about here on earth. Air, for instance. Who's in charge of air. What about homeless people? With such little space how do you deal with homelessness? 

The big thing to me was who is going to be settling space? It seems like the Super-Duper-Rich are going to be the first people to get into space. How is that going to effect all future development?

See, a whole big bag of things to mull over.

It looks like space is the new wild west. 

The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin

 The Dispossessed

The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin

- Ursula K. LeGuin -

What a world builder this book is! Ursula is so great at making up new worlds, like in her Earthsea novels. Not only that, but this book was a solid manifesto on her idea of communal living, and I guess taken a little further, her ideas on socialism/communism. LeGuin makes this big idea very readable with a decent  plot and her amazing prose. 

We follow the story of a man living on another planet that is very resource poor (what could be the moon?). The society there is set up to be most efficient by cooperation and sharing. Nobody owns anything, they all sleep in communal dorms, they all take turns doing manual labour, etc. Then this man, who is a scientific genius I should add, is transported back to Earth. Our home planet is set up the exact same as now, with overabundance, excess, and a class based society. The contrast between these two societies is interesting, especially when you throw in a love story, a revolution, and some science fiction.

The entire time I was reading this book I kept getting flashbacks of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Which makes sense since both novels explore utopian and dystopian themes. However, they both take different sides of the idea of an individual focused society and a communal focused society. 

As always, I'm impressed with LeGuin's writing and was very happy with this book. I'd recommend getting a copy for yourself.

I have to explain the picture of the book on display at a laundromat. Our dryer stopped working, so I was making nightly trips to the laundromat. I'd wash the clothes at home, and take three or four loads to the laundromat to dry. I also took this book to read while waiting. Well, somedays I would be tempted to throw another quarter in the dryer just to get a few more minutes of reading time.

Using AI to Write

 Using AI to Write A Blog Post

AI generated image of our future

There has been so much hype about CHAT GPT and other AI lately; that a future of AI means an end to writing! And end to creativity! And end to what makes us human!

Is it true?

I've taken on the task of testing out a few AI systems. Nothing too in depth. You know, kicking the wheels, lifting the hood, just to get an idea of how good they really are at writing.

Perplexity AI

I've fiddled around with this AI, attempting different prompts and questions. Asking it to write me a blog post, asking it to write me a scene in a story, asking it to write me a cold call email for a big charity donation.

I was surprised at how well Perplexity wrote the email. It sounded professional, well thought out, persuasive, and ready to copy and paste.

The other requests - make up a scene in a story, and write me a blog post - were utter crap.

The request for a blog post gave me a few bullet point ideas and a very weak introductory blurb. I do have to say the ideas were decent, and Perplexity does give you links to the sites it used for research. So, I can't complain too much. It gave me a solid foundation for a blog post, but I would have to do a bit of research to flesh it out. It was far away from an easy cut and paste. I thought AI was supposed to eliminate all the work? 

The creative writing request was a pile of dog shit! I asked it to write a short scene where my character finds a hidden panel in the wall. Behind the panel is a safe. I asked for excitement and suspense. What I got back was two paragraphs full of repetitive, short sentences, and cliche lines ... "her heartbeat quickened", that kind of thing. The writing felt exactly like an AI wrote it. If I were actually trying to use this to help me write an actual short story or novel, I would have used maybe one sentence...and that's a stretch.  

Rytr.me

It's pronounced 'writer'. With a name like that you'd think this AI bot would be the new Hemingway of the digital revolution. 

It's not, but does an okay job of 'creative' writing. A similar prompt of 'write me a scene...' gave me a readable, yet still cliche filled, page of prose. However, it still felt very stiff and robotic. There was actually some dialogue, which sounded vaguely human. But the chatter had little character or personality, however, it wasn't that far off something I might write in a first draft.

Where Rytr did shine was when I asked it to write me a blog post.

First Rytr came up with a few ideas / topics I might want to add. From there I could 'expand' the ideas I wanted and Rytr took on the time consuming job of writing a little blurb. This non-fiction type of writing was great. It flowed nicely, the facts were there, and even the casual tone (which I asked for) rang true. Much, much better than the 'creative writing'.

 

So if AI is the future of writing, then us humans can feel pretty confident that we will still have plenty of job security in the areas of writing, especially writing anything creative. Non-creative writing will be made much easier if you treat AI like a tool to do the foundation work, and you just come along afterwards and add the finishing touches.

Easy To Kill by Agatha Christie

 Easy To Kill

Easy to Kill Agatha Christie - 1974 Cover

- Agatha Christie - 

Agatha Christie is a name that is synonymous with mystery and intrigue. She is one of the most famous authors of all time, and her books have been read by millions of people around the world. I've read a good dozen or so and really enjoyed each one. My latest, and one of her lesser-known works is "Easy to Kill." If you're new to Agatha Christie's work, "Easy to Kill" is a great place to start. It's a quick read that will introduce you to her unique style of mystery writing. And if you're already a fan of Christie's work, "Easy to Kill" is a must-read.

To me it this book was a classic Christie mystery, which usually entails:

• A seemingly perfect crime is introduced and investigated.
• The wrongly accused suspect is at the center of the investigation.
• The bungling of dim-witted police is a common theme.
• The detective has greater powers of observation and a superior mind.
• The startling and unexpected denouement, in which the detective reveals how the identity of the culprit was ascertained.

The 'detective' in this book is not a Poirot or Miss Marple, but the retired police officer Fitzwilliam is one sharp tool (not much of a personality though).

The plot is well-crafted, and the characters are interesting and engaging. It starts right from the beginning with a quote from an old lady, "It's very easy to kill - so long as no one suspects you. And you see, the person in question is just the last person anyone would suspect." That got me engaged and wondering who seems innocent.

The story is full of twists and turns, and the ending is satisfying with the the last person you would suspect. It was a bit of a surprise to me. I guess I got a bit fooled by all the red herrings. With this book, Christie created one of her creepiest, most disturbing villains, proving that revenge is a frightening dish best served cold.

Mystery book meme

It's amazing to me that Christie books are still so good to read, considering this one was written in the 1930s. I read A Murder is Announced a little while ago, and loved that book too. Check out my review and thoughts on how Christie is still relevant almost 100 years later.

The other amazing thing about Christie books is that I often find them for cheap, cheap, cheap prices. My local thrift store sells these books for only 50 cents. And Easy To Kill, I found at a 'fill-a-box-for-$5' sale. I'm sure I only paid a quarter for it.