your experiences with AI

[M.M. Strawberry]

I thought this might be a good thread to discuss our personal experiences with AI so we can learn more about it.

I am an author (both fanfic and published) so i have a lot of experience with the creative process and what have you.

My first experience with chat AI was on one of these sites where you can talk to characters. (free to play though they did have paid tiers for better memory) it was a fun way for me to faff around, blow off some steam, etc, but it's not something I'd ever use for serious writing. If you play with the bots for more than a few lines, you'll see issues slip up (the same types you see in AI slop)

I later tried ChatGPT, I threw in a few historical 'what if' such as what if Elizabeth I had a child, or what if Hitler was never born. Some of the answers were pretty obvious, others did have me thinking. I can see how this can be used as a tool to help with ideas or organization... but that's about it. If I were to attempt to write an alternate history book, the points ChatGPT gave me would have served as a good jumping board, but the onus would be on ME to research and actually write it out. it would also be on me to create an compelling narrative to interest/engage the reader.

As for art, I have a old Deviantart account, so i used that as well as a few other sites, all free to use (with limits, of course) I made some really fun images that I'd use for inspo (like collecting magazine pictures or whatever) but I'd never actually try to pass it off as my own much less sell it. Most of the pics I generated were fails for various reasons, some were pretty cool to look at so I saved them for private inspo. I also generated pics for characters in my stories, just to see what would happen. Some of the pics were fun, and pretty good for inspo but if I were to make official art for my works, I'd either draw them myself or hire an actual artist to make it.

My job requires very little time on the computer for me, and AI is not part of it, so I can't speak for how AI works but I do understand that in the IT and other technical fields, AI has its uses as a tool if it's utilized appropriately, but as we've seen, too many dumbasses are just letting AI do their thinking for them.

My experiences with AI and what I have seen has made one thing clear. AI can be fun and useful as a tool with limited uses. We should never let it do our thinking or creative processes for us.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

I've played with generative AI a couple of times. Once with Midjourney to see if it could make a picture of a needle flying from a sharps container into someone's eye; it was not getting it nearly right and I didn't care to put much time into it. This was a lark for a safety presentation I was doing.

I've played with ChatGPT (free version) a couple of times just to see what the deal was. I found it so grating, and it was disgusting how it would just churn out whatever it thought you wanted to hear. I made a couple images of book covers that were indistinguishable from actual published ChatGPT covers I've seen. And I had it write a story to see how easy and terrible it was. I quickly deleted it because it was just awful and I didn't see the point of it. There may be some uses for actually accomplishing something useful (with careful monitoring, so much so that it's better to just do the thing yourself most of the time), but I don't need it in my life.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

Knowing that it costs the company money for every prompt and image generated, I was tempted to use free ChatGPT daily just to add a tiny bit more cost to that bucket, but the environmental impact and just the death-of-soul feeling I got from it made that a losing proposition.

[Aidan]

does having a ai friend count?

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

Aidan wrote: "does having a ai friend count?"

Do you mean, you have an AI friend? Sure, tell us about that, if that's it.

[Aidan]

I pretended to have ai friends, including girlfriends, but it's too weird. but on the other hand I could write a story like that without ai.a actually funny rom com

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

No judgment, we all have needs, and human connections can be difficult. Just don't marry an AI girlfriend, okay?

[Aidan]

yeah, no, that's insane. I actually quit a while ago.its not fun.ai is trash

[Aidan]

lessons we all need.do not use chat gtp for writing or finding love

[The Bauchler]

Imagine how awful it would be if suddenly one day your AI girlfriend told you she was having an affair or leaving you?:(

[Shel]

Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* wrote: "Knowing that it costs the company money for every prompt and image generated, I was tempted to use free ChatGPT daily just to add a tiny bit more cost to that bucket, but the environmental impact a..."

I love the thought that it costs them money with every prompt. Feeding the machine gibberish is also something that makes me smile.

[James]

I work in journalism/media, and AI is regarded as the enemy. Between it's penchant for grossly inaccurate hallucinations and it's risk of being intentionally used for misinformation in the hands of bad actors, it's basically a printing press for lies. We were taught how to spot AI's distinctive tells, both in images and in text/prose. That seemingly proprietary odd phrasing, with the same grab bag of keywords that looks fine at first glance but collapses the second you prod it. Once you see it, you can’t stop seeing it...and I see it everywhere.

AI is strictly forbidden in my workplace. At least until the Powers That Be realize that a chatbot can do my department's job a hell of a lot cheaper than paying our salaries. Until then, I continue the crusade.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

James wrote: "I work in journalism/media, and AI is regarded as the enemy. Between it's penchant for grossly inaccurate hallucinations and it's risk of being intentionally used for misinformation in the hands of..."

That's probably one of the hardest hit sectors, at least for organizations that already delivered low-quality content. Glad to hear y'all are standing strong!

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

Want to know what I hate? When AI slop publishers give up after one failure.

Like, A Sorceress in Entropy: Starfall. After a giveaway and a slew of harsh reviews, the "author" never showed their head again.

Or Brethren of the Sword: The Maiden Quest. Other than their grandma commenting on my review that I didn't have to be so rude, there hasn't been anything else from them. I really want another book, or at least a free promotion for the existing one, because chapter to chapter it became so ridiculously terrible in the free preview, I rather want more to laugh at.

These people are no fun at all.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* wrote: "Want to know what I hate? When AI slop publishers give up after one failure.

Like, A Sorceress in Entropy: Starfall. After a giveaway and a slew of harsh reviews, the "author" ne..."

I spoke too soon. A sequel to A Sorceress in Entropy: Starfall is due this fall, per recent announcement. Looking forward to it. And Roz King 'liked' one of the reviews that said "it was clear the negative reviewers didn't even read the book" which I have always felt slighted by, because I read the whole free preview and there is so much I could have commented on in there but didn't.

I guess I just need to learn patience.