About six or seven years ago, after a falling out with my local publishing company, I found myself caught in a financial trap so severe that I was willing to do almost anything for a buck. How desperate was I? I wrote anonymous blog copy for a US content mill. Ten or twelve bucks apiece, depending on the exchange rate, for six or seven pieces a day.
Thanks John. That AI blurb about exciting detergent developments is hilarious. The bot has obvously absorbed all the advertising gimmicks used in the trade and spat them right back at you with a straight face. Smart enzymes automatically adjusting for different amounts of stain - what will they think of next?
And to think you didn't even have to ask it a proper question!
Can you give me a few paragraphs written in the style of John Birmingham, complete with expletives, that describes how the Pandora's box of AI is now open and there's no going back?
Sorry, I cannot generate text that contains expletives as it goes against OpenAI's policies for creating safe and responsible AI systems. However, I can provide you with a John Birmingham-style text without any expletives...
And what followed was most definitely not in the style we know and love.
JB: It's only the past week or two that I've even heard of ChatGPT. Sounds like an avenue for bland or galvanising political speech-writing... You describe it well. How will we know if it is a human or the ChatGPT - can there be some way to identify the source - or is this yet another improvement with a deeply dark other face. I got halfway through Fairytale - and as always beautifully believably written by Stephen King - as I was coming out of my Covid bout (routed by Lagevrio) but so many other books to read - I thought I'll get my wife to tell me the final half (she has excellent movie or novel re-telling abilities). And she has done so. What am I reading - in the past couple of weeks - in Brisbane and back home?: re-reading your Leviathan - An unauthorised Biography of Sydney - nearly finished; Colm Tóibín: (essays) A Guest at the Feast (rather good on Pope Francis and his years in Argentina and since being Pope); Nikki SAVVA Bulldozed (Scott Morrison's Fall and Anthony Albanese's Rise) first rate political investigation surrounding the May 21 Federal election; Ian W SHAW On Radji Beach (the story of the nurses out of Singapore and from the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke and their massacre/etc on Radji Beach on Bangka Island off the south-east of Sumatra. A friend is heading up there next week for a memorial visit to the massacre site with cousins - one of her aunts was among those nurses - Kathleen Neuss (an aunt, too, to Philip Noyce of Rabbit Proof Fence, etc films) - one of my aunts by marriage was born in Pangkalpinang - the "capital" of Bangka - though from age 9 in the mid-1950s she grew up in Jakarta; Shannon MOLLOY's significant investigation out of his own childhood sexual assaults into the results of such matters for boys as they grow into men if they make it...quite moving as you would imagine - his honest reporting impressive - You Made Me This Way; and now Ibram C KENDI and Nic Stone's How to be a (Young) Antiracist - in light of the denial of racists - such as the Florida Governor - de Santis - that any antiracist education is needed, etc. I have kinfolk connections in Florida (out of the Caribbean) for whom this is a serious matter! And then I am part way into Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young - about her escape from a religious cult. I emerged out of a cult-like fundamentalist Protestant sect when I was in my 3rd year at university (yes, I know - a slow learner) just turned 19. So that's what I am reading.
We'll have to deal with the employment (or lack thereof) and inequality problems long before the AI's actually "come for us" in any particular direct way. As you've pointed out: the current project of capital is removing the cost of labour, by automating it out of the process (all processes).
The Indian government has (preemptively) banned self-driving cars, because that is work that an Indian can do.
I have no idea where the arc of history is leading at the moment. Great big squiggle, I think.
If I get a choice how can I persuade that Basilisk of Roko’s to forcibly reallocate trillions of dollars of inequitably distributed wealth rather than the alternative?
Started using it this week to generate some words I needed for some corporate doco…blah blah etc. in a workshop I was running with a customer I explained it as a word calculator, and that’s what it is right now. Another tool to be used. Sure it will replace manual jobs that someone once did, but tech has been doing that since the invention of the wheel.
But when it comes to art and creativity, I don’t see it yet. Maybe the low rent churn shit out layer, but humans appreciate art made by humans, for me that is the point. We all have our work, and we all have our art.
Mines cooking, can’t see chatgtp rustling up a decent pork belly anytime soon…..
As both a writer, game narrative designer and uni lecturer I see a bad moon rising, and/or big pain in the arse as I and others have to adapt to new paradigms in creation, cheating, as well as deal with the temp fallout from idiot suits who for a short while (until it backfires) see this as a way of drastically shrinking costs for the dreaded salary sucking work force.
On the other hand, I've just started using it, and it has already saved me time in writing letters of support, PhD research, complaint emails to an arse hat insurance company so you know...
While I have your attention, I'd like to put a scenario to the JB column hive mind I have been thinking about, you don't mind do you JB?
One of the scenarios that concerns me is when things like Chat gpt get good enough, to write coherent long form stories i.e. novels. Will scrupless publishing companies use this AI to churn out derivative work, which is then edited and given the human touch by a couple of wanna-be editors and writers, then published under a pseudonym attached to a real person Milli Vanilli style. or is that just Rik with Friday brain thinking?
By the time SkyNet became self-aware it had spread into millions of computer servers all across the planet. Ordinary computers in office buildings, dorm rooms, everywhere. It was software, in cyberspace. There was no system core. It could not be shut down.
I feel we at the stage with AI, when Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley invented the transistor, at Bell Labs, in 1956, for which they jointly received the Nobel Prize, or when Einstein looked up at the Sun and asked himself, I wonder how fast light travels.
The guru of the the philosophy of advertising, Edward Bernays in his book Propaganda, saw that by understanding the group mind, it would be possible to manipulate people's behavior without their even realizing it.
When AI cottons on to this dystopian idea we may very well be up crap creek with no means of propulsion. Fortunately, at this moment, we are at a stage of progress where massive amounts of data storage can't be achieved. Soon it will be able to knock up a storage centre as big as WA before lunch.
If AI were to work out, all by itself, how to steal the contents of the Reserve Bank digital vault, how would the culprit be punished? I assume a digital prison cell. That would become a decades long Barristers Banquet.
When the summit of Artificial Intelligence is conquered, and it's as omnipresent as the air we breathe, if it's still breathable, and the prophecy of Stephen Hawking is accepted as fact, an addendum to his headstone should say, I told you so!
Yeah, this has been a big topic of discussion around here, because my kid is a graphic arts major at the uni. Also, I've dealt with the topic of AI in my books for a decade or so, and lord knows JB has (the Cruel Stars universe, Axis of Time, etc). This is going to happen, and there's going to be a ton of disruption. My kid's big beef with AI art is that it's strictly derivative- there is no agency or creativity, just code. She says she would regard AI art differently if the Intelligence was truly self-aware, and its art was a projection of its imagination and not a smash-up of billions of images on the net. This makes sense to me. Therefore, I've contracted with her for five cover images this year, for five human derived books (me). But I sense a freight train coming in this regard. If you reach down and feel the rails, there is a low grade vibration and a distant hum. We need to think this through right now.
Yeah, I'd say all authors are fucked now mate. Check this out!
From Cyril (ChatGPT) - Captain James Cook had an unforgettable holiday break in Australia this summer of 2022/2023. On a stunning beach surrounded by crystal clear waters and lush vegetation, he celebrated Christmas in style. The day started with a beautiful fireworks display that lit up the sky, setting the mood for an incredible feast.
A sumptuous roast turkey buffet was laid out, with all the trimmings, and everyone eagerly dug in, savoring every bite. As they ate, a troupe of dancing girls entertained the guests with their graceful moves, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Captain Cook was joined by the legendary singer Archie Roach and a friendly dolphin who joined in the celebrations, adding an extra touch of magic to the day. The music flowed, and everyone was up and dancing, moving to the rhythm of the waves. It was a truly unforgettable experience that Captain Cook will cherish for the rest of his life.
As the sun began to set over the beach, a spectacular fireworks display lit up the sky, adding to the already festive atmosphere. The guests oohed and aahed at the vibrant colors and explosive sounds, creating an unforgettable moment that added to the magic of the day.
The combination of delicious food, great company, stunning surroundings, and festive entertainment made for an unforgettable holiday that will go down in the annals of history.
Seriously though, the whole AI thing frightens my balls up into my tummy. One day ChatGPT (or Cyril as I've now forced it to refer to itself) will hunt me down and fucken kill me.
I've been wondering: how does AI avoid plagiarism - or doesn't it bother? Iow, if the bot has had a diet of Stephen King novels & then writes a short story, can it avoid being too similar?
Until a supercomputer can power itself, I'm not too worried about them taking over. I guess that means once there are enough mobile, multi-purpose robots to maintain the mines, transport, and renewable energy sites...
As for ChatGPT and its ilk, as Birmo says, they don't write very well yet. In fact, I'd say they write pretty much like a bad American PR firm - too many meaningless words, full of redundancy, inelegant and prosaic. But once they evolve beyond that, watch out white collar world.
Thanks John. That AI blurb about exciting detergent developments is hilarious. The bot has obvously absorbed all the advertising gimmicks used in the trade and spat them right back at you with a straight face. Smart enzymes automatically adjusting for different amounts of stain - what will they think of next?
And to think you didn't even have to ask it a proper question!
JB, Looks like you're safe for the time being.
Can you give me a few paragraphs written in the style of John Birmingham, complete with expletives, that describes how the Pandora's box of AI is now open and there's no going back?
Sorry, I cannot generate text that contains expletives as it goes against OpenAI's policies for creating safe and responsible AI systems. However, I can provide you with a John Birmingham-style text without any expletives...
And what followed was most definitely not in the style we know and love.
JB: It's only the past week or two that I've even heard of ChatGPT. Sounds like an avenue for bland or galvanising political speech-writing... You describe it well. How will we know if it is a human or the ChatGPT - can there be some way to identify the source - or is this yet another improvement with a deeply dark other face. I got halfway through Fairytale - and as always beautifully believably written by Stephen King - as I was coming out of my Covid bout (routed by Lagevrio) but so many other books to read - I thought I'll get my wife to tell me the final half (she has excellent movie or novel re-telling abilities). And she has done so. What am I reading - in the past couple of weeks - in Brisbane and back home?: re-reading your Leviathan - An unauthorised Biography of Sydney - nearly finished; Colm Tóibín: (essays) A Guest at the Feast (rather good on Pope Francis and his years in Argentina and since being Pope); Nikki SAVVA Bulldozed (Scott Morrison's Fall and Anthony Albanese's Rise) first rate political investigation surrounding the May 21 Federal election; Ian W SHAW On Radji Beach (the story of the nurses out of Singapore and from the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke and their massacre/etc on Radji Beach on Bangka Island off the south-east of Sumatra. A friend is heading up there next week for a memorial visit to the massacre site with cousins - one of her aunts was among those nurses - Kathleen Neuss (an aunt, too, to Philip Noyce of Rabbit Proof Fence, etc films) - one of my aunts by marriage was born in Pangkalpinang - the "capital" of Bangka - though from age 9 in the mid-1950s she grew up in Jakarta; Shannon MOLLOY's significant investigation out of his own childhood sexual assaults into the results of such matters for boys as they grow into men if they make it...quite moving as you would imagine - his honest reporting impressive - You Made Me This Way; and now Ibram C KENDI and Nic Stone's How to be a (Young) Antiracist - in light of the denial of racists - such as the Florida Governor - de Santis - that any antiracist education is needed, etc. I have kinfolk connections in Florida (out of the Caribbean) for whom this is a serious matter! And then I am part way into Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young - about her escape from a religious cult. I emerged out of a cult-like fundamentalist Protestant sect when I was in my 3rd year at university (yes, I know - a slow learner) just turned 19. So that's what I am reading.
We'll have to deal with the employment (or lack thereof) and inequality problems long before the AI's actually "come for us" in any particular direct way. As you've pointed out: the current project of capital is removing the cost of labour, by automating it out of the process (all processes).
The Indian government has (preemptively) banned self-driving cars, because that is work that an Indian can do.
I have no idea where the arc of history is leading at the moment. Great big squiggle, I think.
If I get a choice how can I persuade that Basilisk of Roko’s to forcibly reallocate trillions of dollars of inequitably distributed wealth rather than the alternative?
Started using it this week to generate some words I needed for some corporate doco…blah blah etc. in a workshop I was running with a customer I explained it as a word calculator, and that’s what it is right now. Another tool to be used. Sure it will replace manual jobs that someone once did, but tech has been doing that since the invention of the wheel.
But when it comes to art and creativity, I don’t see it yet. Maybe the low rent churn shit out layer, but humans appreciate art made by humans, for me that is the point. We all have our work, and we all have our art.
Mines cooking, can’t see chatgtp rustling up a decent pork belly anytime soon…..
You’ve linked fairy tale to the German language edition...das wird schwierig
As both a writer, game narrative designer and uni lecturer I see a bad moon rising, and/or big pain in the arse as I and others have to adapt to new paradigms in creation, cheating, as well as deal with the temp fallout from idiot suits who for a short while (until it backfires) see this as a way of drastically shrinking costs for the dreaded salary sucking work force.
On the other hand, I've just started using it, and it has already saved me time in writing letters of support, PhD research, complaint emails to an arse hat insurance company so you know...
While I have your attention, I'd like to put a scenario to the JB column hive mind I have been thinking about, you don't mind do you JB?
One of the scenarios that concerns me is when things like Chat gpt get good enough, to write coherent long form stories i.e. novels. Will scrupless publishing companies use this AI to churn out derivative work, which is then edited and given the human touch by a couple of wanna-be editors and writers, then published under a pseudonym attached to a real person Milli Vanilli style. or is that just Rik with Friday brain thinking?
Would've been handy for uni essays. Imagine end of semester deadlines untainted by No Doz.
By the time SkyNet became self-aware it had spread into millions of computer servers all across the planet. Ordinary computers in office buildings, dorm rooms, everywhere. It was software, in cyberspace. There was no system core. It could not be shut down.
We have made our own doom.
I feel we at the stage with AI, when Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley invented the transistor, at Bell Labs, in 1956, for which they jointly received the Nobel Prize, or when Einstein looked up at the Sun and asked himself, I wonder how fast light travels.
The guru of the the philosophy of advertising, Edward Bernays in his book Propaganda, saw that by understanding the group mind, it would be possible to manipulate people's behavior without their even realizing it.
When AI cottons on to this dystopian idea we may very well be up crap creek with no means of propulsion. Fortunately, at this moment, we are at a stage of progress where massive amounts of data storage can't be achieved. Soon it will be able to knock up a storage centre as big as WA before lunch.
If AI were to work out, all by itself, how to steal the contents of the Reserve Bank digital vault, how would the culprit be punished? I assume a digital prison cell. That would become a decades long Barristers Banquet.
When the summit of Artificial Intelligence is conquered, and it's as omnipresent as the air we breathe, if it's still breathable, and the prophecy of Stephen Hawking is accepted as fact, an addendum to his headstone should say, I told you so!
Yeah, this has been a big topic of discussion around here, because my kid is a graphic arts major at the uni. Also, I've dealt with the topic of AI in my books for a decade or so, and lord knows JB has (the Cruel Stars universe, Axis of Time, etc). This is going to happen, and there's going to be a ton of disruption. My kid's big beef with AI art is that it's strictly derivative- there is no agency or creativity, just code. She says she would regard AI art differently if the Intelligence was truly self-aware, and its art was a projection of its imagination and not a smash-up of billions of images on the net. This makes sense to me. Therefore, I've contracted with her for five cover images this year, for five human derived books (me). But I sense a freight train coming in this regard. If you reach down and feel the rails, there is a low grade vibration and a distant hum. We need to think this through right now.
I sometimes find it useful for creating basic blocks of code. Sometimes the code is just shit. I’m still working out if it’s my instructions or the AI
Yeah, I'd say all authors are fucked now mate. Check this out!
From Cyril (ChatGPT) - Captain James Cook had an unforgettable holiday break in Australia this summer of 2022/2023. On a stunning beach surrounded by crystal clear waters and lush vegetation, he celebrated Christmas in style. The day started with a beautiful fireworks display that lit up the sky, setting the mood for an incredible feast.
A sumptuous roast turkey buffet was laid out, with all the trimmings, and everyone eagerly dug in, savoring every bite. As they ate, a troupe of dancing girls entertained the guests with their graceful moves, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Captain Cook was joined by the legendary singer Archie Roach and a friendly dolphin who joined in the celebrations, adding an extra touch of magic to the day. The music flowed, and everyone was up and dancing, moving to the rhythm of the waves. It was a truly unforgettable experience that Captain Cook will cherish for the rest of his life.
As the sun began to set over the beach, a spectacular fireworks display lit up the sky, adding to the already festive atmosphere. The guests oohed and aahed at the vibrant colors and explosive sounds, creating an unforgettable moment that added to the magic of the day.
The combination of delicious food, great company, stunning surroundings, and festive entertainment made for an unforgettable holiday that will go down in the annals of history.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seriously though, the whole AI thing frightens my balls up into my tummy. One day ChatGPT (or Cyril as I've now forced it to refer to itself) will hunt me down and fucken kill me.
I've been wondering: how does AI avoid plagiarism - or doesn't it bother? Iow, if the bot has had a diet of Stephen King novels & then writes a short story, can it avoid being too similar?
Until a supercomputer can power itself, I'm not too worried about them taking over. I guess that means once there are enough mobile, multi-purpose robots to maintain the mines, transport, and renewable energy sites...
As for ChatGPT and its ilk, as Birmo says, they don't write very well yet. In fact, I'd say they write pretty much like a bad American PR firm - too many meaningless words, full of redundancy, inelegant and prosaic. But once they evolve beyond that, watch out white collar world.