The Inclining Academic
I was recently talking with a friend about Midjourney (the AI image-generator), and she hadn't encountered it yet. We were planning a book discussion at the time, and just to introduce her to the platform I suggested, "Let's prompt Midjourney with the single word 'protest' and see what comes back." The initial renderings are below: … Continue reading Protest is in the Eye of the Beholder
All three of my readers know that I've been having fun playing with various AI tools: using prompts to "make art"; employing AI-generated voices at murph.ai for song creation (I cannot sing and can prove it); interviewing ChatGPT weekly; and using tools like Writesonic and Poe to "version" various pieces of writing. This is all … Continue reading The Creator Speaks of the Creation
In continuing to play around with various AI interfaces, I encountered Blue Willow, which feels a lot like Midjourney in terms of usage and style. The first serious test any AI image generator must pass, of course, is the "chuck-rybak-self-portrait" test. None have successfully done so, which I consider a failure of significant magnitude. Why? … Continue reading Blue Willow
Me: Welcome back ChatGPT! Good to meet with you again. I was talking with some friends the other night, and they were kind of down on William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! I'm an (sometimes) English professor. Can you believe that bullshit? Midjounrey's take on the Sutpen Residence ChatGPT: Hello! It's great to see you again. I'm … Continue reading A Sit Down With ChatGPT: Part 3
For the past few years, especially when saddled beneath Covid's heaviest weight, I would hear people say things like, "2020 can just f**k itself. I am SO ready to move on to next year." I feel safe in assuming that at least four of my five readers have expressed similar thoughts. This is how I … Continue reading What Does It Mean to End a Year?
I took an old poem of mine, "Liketown," and imported some complete stanzas and other reworked phrases into MURF.AI to act as pre-chorus and chorus elements (the verses are original stanzas). The voice I selected was dubbed "Terrell," who is described vocally as a "middle-aged male." My favorite voice on murf.ai In GarageBand I tried … Continue reading Another AI & Tech Experiment
I love to reread books. Even more, I love talking with people about how they re-experience works of art over time, whether it be rereading, re-viewing, re-listening, etc. A touchstone of conversation in this genre is JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, a book that a good friend of mine reads once a year. … Continue reading AI is not Ready for Holden Caulfield
Big day today, November 8th, 2022, with many big life changes coming for so many real people. The title here says it all: I used the simple prompt "Election Day" in Midjourney, Dall-E, and Stable Diffusion. The algorithms give us the mysterious fortunes below. Midjourney calculates "Election Day" Stable Diffusion calculates "Election Day" Dall-E calculates … Continue reading AI Renderings of “Election Day” (Updated with Music Below!)
As I found myself in Pulaski, Wisconsin, walking out of parent-teacher conferences, I harvested a quick picture of the moon. Celistial body via iPhone Since I have been playing with AI art generators, I figured, "why not upload this photo, which is simultaneously mundane and cosmic sorcery?" So I did, using technology which also might … Continue reading The Moon is Always Miraculous
I'll keep this one short. I have always loved the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks. Everyone knows her most famous poem: We Real Cool The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel. We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon. … Continue reading We Real Cool (with Music)