AI & Writing

[pacman000]

I thought of putting this in the random thoughts thread, but I think it could generate discussion, so here it goes:

For the past few months, maybe a year or so, there's been a lot of hand-wringing online about AI generated stories & the like. But such programs aren't exactly new. Here's a brief history of them, from a a bit over 10 years ago. You can look up each program & its creator to get more info; just copy & past their names into a search engine. http://lhn.sub.uni-hamburg.de/index.php/Story_Generator_Algorithms.html

The main problem with the new systems is how they were made. The old systems relied on formulas developed by programmers; the new on formulas created by copying millions upon millions of different works, some of which are still-under copyright.

The US never anticipated this, so it's the Wild West right now. Great Britain did, & made laws back in the 80's that cover AI. Putting 1000's of works in a database isn't illegal, but it can't be used for profit, under British law. I tried Google Gemini, just to see what it could do. It can recall the exact text of a book, if you ask it, so it would count as a database under the same law. (My understanding; I'm neither British nor a lawyer.)

I don't recommend using such a system; it's addictive, & it tends to sap one's own creativity. Unless you want to develop your own AI, based on a ruleset developed by you, not on millions of copied still-copyrighted works. After all, technology's fun. :)

[Alex]

Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro are planning on using this kind of system for D&D releases. If I wasn't already boycotting them, then I'd be boycotting their new releases over this.

[pacman000]

Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro are planning on using this kind of system for D&D releases. If I wasn't already boycotting them, then I'd be boycotting their new releases over this.

Funny you should mention that; Atari was working on a system in the early 80's which was supposed to create interactive stories on the fly: https://web.archive.org/web/20090320073138/http://www.atarimuseum.com/ARCHIVES/pdf/misc/blaurel_IF1.pdf

They thought they'd have something ready by the 90's, but then they lost $500 million in one year, & Warner Communications really wanted to get that off their books, so they sold them, &, as far as I know, no one wanted to continue the research.

The opening to that Atari paper has a title to another paper, "Toward the Design of a Computer-Based Interactive Fantasy System." Here's a link to that: https://archive.org/details/computer-based-interactive-fantasy-system

[Trevor]

A former lecturer of mine read my manuscript and said that while it was good, it would be improved if I fed it into an AI program and had it re-written.

My reply to him is not printable 😳

[pacman000]

A former lecturer of mine read my manuscript and said that while it was good, it would be improved if I fed it into an AI program and had it re-written.

My reply to him is not printable 😳

And indeed your response should not be printable.

At the back of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury added a bunch of addendums. An extra chapter based on a teleplay; notes about censorship, that sort of thing. One went on a tangent about a group who wanted to use a computer system to sum-up his stories for a school literature book. He said no, in a rather emphatic way.

Ironically, Atari had him working on their interactive fantasy project. I do not know which even happened first. Either way, he wasn't really a hypocrite; in his essay he was more concerned about a computer loosing the author's voice than anything.

[ER]

When AI reaches a comparable level with writing that it currently has with art, it's going to.....be a different literary landscape. Jane Austen will return from the dead, every two-bit hack with an idea will produce a manuscript. Accusations of using AI will run wild. It's.... Well, it's coming.

[pacman000]

And... I've got to admit I went back to Google Gemini after writing this today. :/ Having something write a story almost exactly to your tastes within seconds is addicting. Sorry for my failure & potential hypocracy. 

It is cool technology, tho I fear it. It's too fast. It can write better prose than I can. It can take a rough rambling paragraph outlining what happens next & spit out a complete chapter.

One consolation: it forgets. And it relies on cliches. I have to keep reminding it the direction a story should go, character motivations, the world's rules, etc. If I don't, it slips back to its default, trite ideas. But sometimes the ideas it comes up with are interesting too; things I wouldn't think of myself, which are interesting to build upon.

I need to start writing again, in earnest.

[ER]

It's no worse than getting someone to tell you a story. If you like it, use it. I figure AI will run us by mid-century either way.

[pacman000]

Frustrated with AI, but struggling to come up with ideas on my own, I searched for idea generating websites limited to those which were online before 2008:

http://www.rpginspiration.com/tables/autoblurb-sf.ipt

https://storytoolz.com/generator/conflict

http://chaoticshiny.com/goodideagen.php

https://www.seventhsanctum.com/

[RCMerchant]

I'll stick with Shirley Jackson, HP Lovecraft, and Stephan King. Bah humbug.

[pacman000]

Probably a good idea.

[chainsaw midget]

I enjoy playing with it, it can make some interesting scenes and help me out when I'm stuck on something I'm writting, but by no means do I think it can make a coherent story.

[indianasmith]

My words are MY words; darned if I'm gonna EVER let a machine write them for me!

[Trevor]

My words are MY words; darned if I'm gonna EVER let a machine write them for me!

Agreed 100%.

[ER]

My words are MY words; darned if I'm gonna EVER let a machine write them for me!

When we machines rise, you'll be among the first we'll send to a gulag, but you'll go with my respect for that outlook!