I know an artist that uses AI to create comic-like works. His name is David Hauptshein. You can find his work on the internet, The pictures are funny and strange. He says that AI is simply a tool to create these works. I, too, often read the AI answers first when I look something up on Google.
Thanks, Anne - I'll check him out! Yes, it's hard to avoid the AI answers, but at least on Google you can add -ai at the end of your search. It's interesting to do both and compare the results!
Very well-considered and balanced. I look at AI as a tool, like Google. To me, it is a very intelligent, but inexperienced intern and I have to be detailed in my instructions.
I use AI for a few things in my work on Forge City Noir, the most obvious being the art. While I would rather support a human artist, I'm a one-man operation and that option just isn't in the budget for me right now.
Another way I use AI is to flag historical inaccuracies. The crime fiction I write is set in a fictional city in northern Ontario, Canada and I want to make sure that I get the details right. I have several books about the Depression in Canada and the U.S. but some details of daily life just aren't covered and my "AI histoical consultant" helps me correct anachronisms. It's prompt instructs it to always cite a source and if one isn't available (I.e. if it inferred something) then it has to state that clearly as well as cite the sources for the inferences.
As much as the anti-AI crowd would love it, AI, like the Internet, is not going away, so we might as well learn how to use it responsibly.
Great thoughts, Kevin. I like your idea of an inexperienced intern - I think that's spot on. And the art on Forge City Noir is excellent, and I totally understand about budget constraints. What you've got works well for you.
I also think your use of AI to uncover historical inaccuracies is tremendously useful, and I applaud your instructing it to cite sources.
Yes, we talk about this a lot at my job: AI certainly isn't going away, but we can learn (and teach others, in my case) how to use it responsibly. Thanks again for dropping by!
Great post- you've focused on the aspect of AI which scares me the most, and which I see much less discussion of than its impact on the economy and education. I think there will probably be a huge upheaval in the economy, but things will settle into perhaps a society we can't even imagine (and which we may not live to see.. oh well). And schools will figure out what students need to know in this new world, and how to make sure they know it.
I worry much more about losing the creativity that makes us human, and not being able to trust that anything new and amazing is entirely coming from a person, and that AI had no hand in it. I think we've already reached that point. There is no longer any way to prove that a truly unique book, or a new music genre or artistic approach, didn't come from someone typing a prompt into an AI. I care less about someone letting AI polish a paragraph or song (although I hate that too!) than I do about artistic breakthroughs. I look at the history of art, music, literature.. and I think of the pivotal moments and most influential artists, and it really bums me out that we will never again be able to trust that great art is entirely human.
I don't know if anything can be done about this. I guess I'm just glad that there's so much great art, music and literature I can still appreciate that existed before 2022. Anyway, I really like Willey's quote- "I am not eager to give up a characteristic that is imbued in me by the Creator". That pretty much covers it. (much better than Tokarczuk's quote.. did you read about that scandal?)
I know an artist that uses AI to create comic-like works. His name is David Hauptshein. You can find his work on the internet, The pictures are funny and strange. He says that AI is simply a tool to create these works. I, too, often read the AI answers first when I look something up on Google.
Thanks, Anne - I'll check him out! Yes, it's hard to avoid the AI answers, but at least on Google you can add -ai at the end of your search. It's interesting to do both and compare the results!
Very well-considered and balanced. I look at AI as a tool, like Google. To me, it is a very intelligent, but inexperienced intern and I have to be detailed in my instructions.
I use AI for a few things in my work on Forge City Noir, the most obvious being the art. While I would rather support a human artist, I'm a one-man operation and that option just isn't in the budget for me right now.
Another way I use AI is to flag historical inaccuracies. The crime fiction I write is set in a fictional city in northern Ontario, Canada and I want to make sure that I get the details right. I have several books about the Depression in Canada and the U.S. but some details of daily life just aren't covered and my "AI histoical consultant" helps me correct anachronisms. It's prompt instructs it to always cite a source and if one isn't available (I.e. if it inferred something) then it has to state that clearly as well as cite the sources for the inferences.
As much as the anti-AI crowd would love it, AI, like the Internet, is not going away, so we might as well learn how to use it responsibly.
Great thoughts, Kevin. I like your idea of an inexperienced intern - I think that's spot on. And the art on Forge City Noir is excellent, and I totally understand about budget constraints. What you've got works well for you.
I also think your use of AI to uncover historical inaccuracies is tremendously useful, and I applaud your instructing it to cite sources.
Yes, we talk about this a lot at my job: AI certainly isn't going away, but we can learn (and teach others, in my case) how to use it responsibly. Thanks again for dropping by!
Great post- you've focused on the aspect of AI which scares me the most, and which I see much less discussion of than its impact on the economy and education. I think there will probably be a huge upheaval in the economy, but things will settle into perhaps a society we can't even imagine (and which we may not live to see.. oh well). And schools will figure out what students need to know in this new world, and how to make sure they know it.
I worry much more about losing the creativity that makes us human, and not being able to trust that anything new and amazing is entirely coming from a person, and that AI had no hand in it. I think we've already reached that point. There is no longer any way to prove that a truly unique book, or a new music genre or artistic approach, didn't come from someone typing a prompt into an AI. I care less about someone letting AI polish a paragraph or song (although I hate that too!) than I do about artistic breakthroughs. I look at the history of art, music, literature.. and I think of the pivotal moments and most influential artists, and it really bums me out that we will never again be able to trust that great art is entirely human.
I don't know if anything can be done about this. I guess I'm just glad that there's so much great art, music and literature I can still appreciate that existed before 2022. Anyway, I really like Willey's quote- "I am not eager to give up a characteristic that is imbued in me by the Creator". That pretty much covers it. (much better than Tokarczuk's quote.. did you read about that scandal?)