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
Tonight I dared something simultaneously terrifying, thrilling, and necessary. I passengered my way through my older daughter's first night-driving experience. During this Melvillian journey, I semi-tricked her into driving on the highway for the first time--one lane only, for one mile, for one exit back home. I then made her a quesadilla while she beamed … Continue reading I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
In a moment of perfect timing, The Washington Post just published an article titled "An AI that creates images from prompts worries researchers. And now anyone can use it." An alternate headline reads, "AI can now create any image in seconds, bringing wonder and danger." The article focuses on the three AI art generators I … Continue reading The Washington Post Reads My Mind
What is the most quoted work of American poetry? Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken." And it turns out the road most taken leads to misreading the poem, and thus the poem's final three lines have been offered up daily, somewhere, as a cosmic "go get 'em!" Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- … Continue reading The Algoroad Not Taken
Last evening I was privileged to be part of a Weidner Philharmonic Orchestra event held at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts (the place is dazzling). The event was called "Women's Work," and the orchestra played four separate pieces by women composers. Interloper that I am, I was asked to be a small part … Continue reading Light & Music
If sticking with poetry as prompts for AI art generation, I wanted to see how the various algorithms would handle shaply contrasting words, images, and concepts. "Fire" and "ice" fit the bill perfectly. Enter the dragon, Robert Frost: Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of … Continue reading Fire & Ice
Last spring, I taught a writing course in a maximum security prison. This was the first time I had ever done this, and it was a profound experience in ways I am not yet able to articulate. I can't yet describe it in a way that doesn't make it feel like I'm talking about myself, … Continue reading A Bit of Etheridge Knight
After a weightier post and experiment about race, today is light (but epic) fare. I am currently reading Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, and it is proving just as good and important as billed. The Odyssey is a text that has always been significant to me. One of my undergraduate honors seminars was on … Continue reading Odysseus, Sacker of Algorithms
An interesting thing happened while pasting shorter poems into various AI Art generators (specifically Midjourney, Dall-E, and Stable Diffusion). I don't quite know what to make of recent results, as I only superficially understand how such algorithms work. I decided to use Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" because I wanted to see if the word "Harlem" … Continue reading Dipping a Small Toe into the Idea of Algorithmic Bias
