There are around forty religious holidays between Thanksgiving and Epiphany. So, go ahead, wish everyone a Happy Holiday and you’re bound to be getting at least one of them right. Anywho, this will be my last newsletter of the year. Experience has taught that, like kids on a sugar rush, everyone is too preoccupied with holidays, family, and a burning desire to stay drunk and hope Uncle Harold doesn’t try to explain “the real world” to your kids.
A couple of updates for those of you who’ve been here a while, and then fun stuff for all the new people who showed up wondering if I need lithium. First, I ripped about a hundred pages out of The Darkling Wind since I found them trite and predictable. Don’t worry, you won’t be the first to say, “But McSciFi, that’s what people want.” I am not people.
Second, I made my publisher cry. I had sworn on a plate of holy grits that I was done with The Brittle Riders universe. That trilogy, plus the Goptri of the Mists trilogy, accounts for just under 3/4 of a million words dedicated to the death of all you know and all that followed.
I lied. As you can see from the graphic at the bottom, I am breathing life into The Plato Wars, a story referenced in The Brittle Riders & Goptri of the Mists as the reason AI was outlawed. It is set in our future, a planet without countries. Just one world and its subsections. In other words, you can still go to Paris, it’s just that France is a region now and not a country. Flesh in this time is just another fashion accessory, and violence is unheard of.
Long story short, the people in the story fuck that up royally.
For those of you who are new, welcome. A human on LinkedIn called The Brittle Riders universe “Star Wars for functioning adults.” That works. If you click THIS LINK, you’ll be taken to a page that has four videos. They are all short, under two minutes, and designed to be viewed on large screens with good sound. At the top of the page is a menu that will take you to a wide variety of ancillary materials you can enjoy.
For now, I thank all who have stayed on this journey, welcome all who have joined, and wish each and every one of you a joyful and safe holiday season.
Back in 2012 I wrote a fun little blog about Holiday films everyone needed to see. Most people will point you to the classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, a fun story which reminds children that they’re all useless and will be shunned until they provide a service to their overlords, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which seems like a pedophile’s wet dream today but was actually very sweet when it was first released (and is still a personal fave of mine since I’m not a pervert – well, not that kind of pervert), Frosty the Snowman, a fun story that reminds kids how much fun it can be to hop a freight train with a stranger, and, of course, A Christmas Story, the first holiday special to ever feature bad lingerie and guns. Certainly there are others, like It’s a Wonderful Life to Die Hard, for the older viewers who need chronic depression and death with their holiday.
But the list I created had nothing to do with any of them. Any third rate blog could cough them up. No, my list is for those among you who are connoisseurs of cinema. Who are willing to experiment with your palate. For those who might prefer a moment off the beaten path.
You know who you are.
Merry Christmas!
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By now you’ve opened the gifts, had your Christmas breakfast and settled in for another year of holiday entertainment. At least until the NBA takes over your TV. This is truly a magical time. The toys haven’t been broken yet. Uncle Ned is still mostly sober. Aunt Edna, still aglow from the kisses from the kids, has yet to begin her annual screed about what a failure you are. Cousin Tony seems to have taken his meds today so that’s one less thing to worry about. As I said, it’s a magical time. But you and I know that if you have to watch A Christmas Story or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer one more time it is quite possible that you will react badly. Not to worry, it is exactly moments like this that the World News Center was designed to address. Well, these and stripper based funerals. Below you will find an alphabetical list of 11 movies, because Top 10 lists are for amateurs, that will brighten up your day.
Babes in Toyland All you need to know about this super-happy film, beyond the songs, toy soldiers and dancing puppets, is the super-happy story line. “On the eve of their wedding, evil miser Barnaby hires two henchmen to drown Tom and steal Mary’s sheep, cared for by Little Bo Peep, thus depriving Mary and the children she lives with of their livelihood, forcing her to marry Barnaby.” Kind of makes you misty, doesn’t it? Your kids will be in therapy for decades.
Christmas that Almost Wasn’t (The) “It is the week before Christmas, and Santa Claus visits attorney Sam Whipple, asking for his help. It turns out that the evil businessman Phineas T. Prune holds the lease on the North Pole, and is about to kick Santa out for nonpayment of rent! As such, there will be no more Christmas!” It is never explained why Santa needed the cash and took a mortgage on the North Pole and Phineas T. Prune is so over the top evil, right down to his mustache, you’ll forget to worry about it. The film has every Christmas cliche, including the bad guy who falls in love with a toy, so it may be the only Christmas movie you’ll ever need to see.
Ernest Saves Christmas Oh, this is a joyful mess. Santa goes to jail because this guy (a children’s show host) thinks his name is Santos, no racism there, and Ernest loses his job for giving a free ride to Santa and Santa seems to suffer from Alzheimer’s. Nothing like creeping dementia to make your holiday joyous. Plot points include this heart warming gem; “Ernest and Harmony (whose real name is later revealed by Santa to be Pamela Trenton) discover the magic power of Santa’s sack, and immediately Pamela starts to abuse it. She steals the sack, and attempts to run away yet again.” Santa’s magical sack is clearly different than mine.
Eight Crazy Nights Yeah, it’s a Hanukkah movie, so what? A plate of latkes warm the tummy no matter your religion. And it’s Adam Sandler, that master of subtlety and gentle wit. Doesn’t this plot just scream ‘group hug’? “Davey Stone, an alcoholic with a criminal record, is sentenced to community service under the supervision of an elderly referee. Davey is then faced with trying to reform and abandon his bad habits.” The special part are the songs, all of which sound like they were written by an inmate with anger issues.
Fitzwilly This movie has everything you could possibly want in a holiday movie. Dick Van Dyke had yet to join A.A. and he is clearly drunk in this film. Add in a soundtrack that was obviously mailed in after a month-long bender by John Williams, who would later redeem himself with that whole Star Wars thing, and you have oodles of family fun. But wait! There’s More! There’s a plot too; “Claude Fitzwilliam, leads the household staff to rob from various businesses by charging goods to various wealthy people and misdirecting the shipments, all to keep Miss Vicki’s standard of living.” Gosh, it’s like every role model you want for your kids in one film.
Fred Claus “A garrulous hustler running from the emotional fallout of the ultimate sibling rivalry, poor Fred keeps trying to find happiness through one failed scheme after another, pushing away the people who care about him most.” This movie is so grandly contrived that you can pick out what will happen next in every single scene. It even has Santa’s boss. You might be forgiven for thinking that Santa doesn’t have a boss, but Kevin Spacey exists to prove you wrong. Not for anything else that I can see, but there you are.
Great Rupert (The) Forget the plot on this one I’ll tell you all you need to know. This film has a magic squirrel, Jimmy Durante doing barroom versions of Christmas carols and lots of plucky poor people. Oh, and it has a dude who talks to the magic squirrel and plays a concertina too. Did I mention that the magic squirrel steals money from their landlord so the family can eat and pay rent to the landlord the squirrel just stole from? No? I probably should have. Lots of feel good stuff here.
Polar Express “On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that’s headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus’s home.” Oh, that only scratches the surface. This movie has Tom Hanks in full on schizophrenic mode. All of the adult male characters are played by Hanks. So we get him as a condescending prick who doubles as a train conductor and as a drunken hobo. The kids in the film are subjected to horror after horror, all needlessly, until they succumb and believe in Santa again. The films modernized version of rotoscoping gives it a nightmare feel. It is a must see film in my home.
Santa Claus (1959) What can I say about this masterpiece? Shot in Mexico and dubbed into English it takes the myth of Santa to logical, if unusual, conclusions. Santa knows if you’ve been bad or good because he has a telescope in his space station (what do you mean you never heard of Santa’s space station?) and he peeps into bedrooms. This classic features Santa versus Satan for control of the holiday. Satan, the bad guy in the red suit, tries to turn kids against the holiday by giving them stark nightmares where they are attacked, and possibly eaten, by their dolls. The plot line doesn’t do this work of art justice, “With the aid of Merlin, Santa Claus must defeat the evil machinations of the devil Pitch to ruin Xmas.” The whole Merlin thing is never explained and, by the end, you just won’t care.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians This incredible film used to be an annual staple on WGN until someone sobered up. There’s just not enough space to capture everything worth seeing but here’s a start; the Martians come to Earth to kidnap Santa so their kids, who are suffering from planetary depression, can learn to laugh and play like earth kids. The Martians have technology that could lay our planet to waste but they keep forgetting to use it. So, they are immediately discovered by the U.S. Department of Defense and are forced to land and hide. On an on it goes. Add in the fact that Santa smokes and his wife is a controlling bitch and you have holiday magic. The opening theme song is so bad as to sound as if it were imported from a Jap/Pop satire. The fact that this was Pia Zadora’s big screen debut is only a minor bonus. And, no, she couldn’t act then either.
Year Without Santa Claus “Mrs. Claus tells us about the time Santa had a bad cold and decided to take a vacation from Christmas. Two of his elves, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells decided to go out (with Vixen) to find children to convince Santa that the Christmas spirit is still important to everybody else. But they have to get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser, first, before they land in Southtown, USA, where it never snows for Christmas. But the Miser Brothers can’t agree to let it snow in Southtown. But Mrs. Santa knows their mom–Mother Nature.” The songs by the Miser brothers alone make this a must see but the Santa themed jail break in Southtown make this must see TV on an epic scale. Also it is the first clearly feminist Christmas film. Mrs. Claus and Mama Nature don’t take no guff, no sirree bub I tell you what. A friend of mine claims this movie was written by a bitter lesbian, but I don’t think so. It has a weird sweetness that permeates throughout. Maybe a bitter lesbian who got a second date then.
So there you have it, 11 films to fill your holiday with heretofore unimagined joy. You can thank me later.
Before I forget, HAPPY BIRD DAY to all who celebrate.
One of the fun things about being me, as opposed to some corporate clunk who aspires to middle management, is that people interact with me on purpose. They ask questions, proffer suggestions, share stories, take pictures, and keep McSciFi-Land, still the McOddest Amusement Park going, entertaining.
While I do have some businessy type stuff I want to share, I honestly believe I would be remiss if I didn’t let you sample some McSciFi-related conversations. So, in no particular order, here are five worth reading.
#1, from one of my favorite lesbians concerning a promo-vid that accidentally became too racy for Social Media, “Morn dude. I’m not sure how to say this, but I have seen tits before and will again. As you know, Sharice lives the clothing optional life whenever she can. And you know from experience that she’s got some great knockers. But, damn, those pics gave me the damn tingles.”
#2, from a human I’ve never met and whose gender is unclear, “My daughter reads your books, and she likes them and tells her little friends about them. She wants me to take a picture of her holding your book. Does she have to be nude, or is topless okay?” FUCK NO! was my answer to all of that. If you scroll down you’re see no one is nude. That said, I have received some images that are not safe for work, and I always say thank you, whether or not I share them. But if you use the phrase “little friends” anywhere near your child, keep their damn clothes on. Cri-Yimminy!
#3, from an old friend who discovered sci-fi when he discovered me. Almost ten years later, he still likes both. His take on an ARC of Goptri of the Mists: Kitaab Teen, “Mothafukka, wat’s the fucking fuck wrong wit you? Purple lesbians with fifty fingers, robots that wanna fuck, making the nice snake lady discover glurp and turn into a horn dog, and that knife fight? Fucking seriously, man? I’m a fucking Seal and I know the technique you have that Queen use. Thanks for pointing out a majority of folks would be dead if they tried, but I want to know how you write timing, cause you did that shit, it was perfect.
“Anyway, that ending was cool, but, you and me talking, you’re writing another trilogy, ain’t you?”
#4, from an industry professional on my offer to tone down the nudity and violence in The Brittle Riders, “Homie, that ship bolted the harbor long ago. You have a black guy who wants to play God kicking off your story. Then, thanks to him, you kill all the people. You’ve got a minotaur twink who makes twinks look studly. Then you got a giant cockroach who loves the New Testament. Look, once you get rid of all the folks that shit is gonna piss off, we get your target audience. And my bet is they all like naughty bits.”
#5, the first review of my character video for this universe, “A lot more dancing than I expected in a dystopia, but all the boobs, bullets, and booze a Southern gal could ask for.”
Speaking of the character video, I put a lot of work into having it conform to the other two series-specific videos. According to people who are better looking and smarter than me, that was a mistake. The first two videos are each specific to a story. But the universe I created is chaos built on insanity. They feel, strongly, that the character video should reflect that. Give me a week, and it will.
As long as we’re talking videos, NO, MRS. McGORMAN! NOT YOUR ONLY FANS VIDEOS! PLEASE STOP SENDING THEM!
Ahem, anyway, the nice folks over at Hadithi Sambamba Comix have been garnering interest on their titles from media companies, to the point where we put our pointy heads together and came up with a Promo Video and a truly spiffy Slide Show for those who don’t want throbbing audio to disrupt their pristine offices. Also, a while back, Hadithi signed a deal with Drive Thru Comics for international distribution.
One thing I have learned is that definitions of naughty are wildly varied around the world. Europeans love an uncovered breast, Japan reveres the penis as a religious object, and Americans get freaked out by a woman’s uncovered ankles. So, we have come up with consistent age guidelines for every title, so that every country’s minimum age is respected.
This also means you have no excuse anymore. You must go and start purchasing age-appropriate and critically acclaimed titles for your intellectual consumption.
DO IT! DO IT NOW!
Sorry, we’re just excited by everything that’s going on.
Over the last few weeks, I shared the joys of creating the scenes’ page for Azoth Khem. As it was being built, I discovered people wanted a little more titillation (BOOBS!), a few more explosions (BIG TINGS GO BA-BOOM!), a deeper dive into the uniqueness of it all (HOLY BAT SHIT! WHAT’S THAT?), more same sex imagery (YAY GAY!) and a few more examples of humans humiliating the chimeras (IT’S WHY THE CHIMERAS KILLED THEM!).
For your viewing pleasure, images have been added below in the order of these listed requests.
To your honest surprise, heh, these are also the exact same items people wanted to see in videos.
This is where things got tricky. You see, while animating a cat video using AI is pretty commonplace, my images are not cute kittens. They are elaborate fantasy images that make AI do bad things. And not in a good way. So, we (meaning ‘me’) had to come up with a plan. First, I had to build complex images. If you build prompts, go ahead and steal my ideas via that link.
Then I needed to figure out what my chimeras were going to do. Sure, drink beer and look cool sounds good, but who’s going to watch multiple characters do the same thing over and over and over, etc., etc., etc.? My apologies to The King and I.
Finally, I needed to pick an app that would allow me to do what I needed to do. There are many good AI programs out there. That said, I chose DeepAI because I knew I would get connsitent results. I’m not talking about general quality, although that’s always a factor, but color, motion, details, and so on are all important. Long story short, I wanted every image to look like it belonged with every other image. And I’m a whiny bitch when it comes to photorealism. I want you to believe these things exist.
One moment of transparency, since I have used and mentioned DeepAI so much, I am now a Community Advocate for them. Simply put, if you want to learn more about the app, I know where they hide the smart people and can get you in touch.
Once everything was done, I set about animating each chimera in short videos. Anything over ten seconds can cause an app to overload. That is as true for kitten videos as it is for this. There are ways around that limitation, but they involve using known variables, usually, and neither The Brittle Riders nor Goptri of the Mists meets that standard.
There is no way to do something like this without setting your ego, and one sad Online Modeling career, aside and listening to smart people who make rent doing this for a living. Some of the ones I listened to even own condos. All of the ones I listened to were doing their level best to make me, and this presentation, better.
I began annoying people whose opinions I valued by sending them video after video of my chimeras dancing (yes), killing (obviously), and doing all the stuff you could hope for that won’t get you fired for watching at work. And, after two weeks of doing that, building a custom video player so everything would be stored on my website where I could track analytics, and making sure I had all the clearances I needed, I took a deep breath and popped these evil kittens online.
For those who have never used an HTML video player, it’s not that different from a YouTube player. There is a box on the lower right that allows you to access or leave full screen (watch it big, you’ll thank me), and the play/pause button is on the left. Since people who beta tested these videos tended to keep playing them, I added a looping function so the videos will start again when they’re done. If you are one of the few who have the emotional strength not to watch them multiple times, just hit the pause button and go to the next video.
Also, years in the music industry also made me a whiny bitch about sound quality. I purposely picked professional recordings of high quality to enhance your viewing experience. Bust out that subwoofer, or listen on the good headphones at dangerous volumes. Your ears will tingle in joy.
One word of warning. If you use Amazon’s Sling as a browser via a Firestick on a TV you’re in for a world of hurt. Despite over six months of online complaints, it still turns any webpage with embedded content, like my link with its embedded videos, into a late 90’s cellphone, and you will not be able to watch these videos. This has not been an issue with any other browser.
Or, as my friend Ox said, just cast from your computer to your TV and God will forgive all your sins. I’m not sure about the theology, but that does work.
When you click the big link above, you will also have access to all the still images that have been created over the last year or so. That should keep you busy.
Ten days ago, under the tutelage of an incredible human who works with people who make a billion dollars per movie, I upgraded the scenes page for The Brittle Riders and Goptri of the Mists. Basically, a little more titillation (BOOBS!), a few more explosions (BIG TINGS GO BA-BOOM!), a deeper dive into the uniqueness of it all (HOLY BAT SHIT! WHAT’S THAT?), more same sex imagery (YAY GAY!) and a few more examples of humans humiliating the chimeras (IT’S WHY THEY KILLED THEM!).
She and I went through the images one by one, and she called out additions she wanted, things she felt should be eliminated, stuff that needed minor alterations, and a request for the source files of two images that she could blow up and put on her wall so her girlfriend could see. Since her girlfriend is a graphic designer, it was unclear if she was going for “Oh, Baby, aren’t these hot?” or “Hey, Honey, aren’t these good?” Either way, she got the images she requested.
Nevertheless, once we had everything humming along nicely, I loaded the whole she-bang up, told my wife I loved her, drank some tequila, and went to bed. While I was doing that, my new BFF sent an email to a few friends saying, “Yo, dudes and dudines, you gotta check this shit out!” and included the link I shared above. Well, she told a few friends, and they told a few friends, and so on and so on. By the time I crawled my fat ass out of bed, the entire website had been overrun and shut down. I own the server and make sure any sites I work with have a buffer, so I can get a warning and avoid something like this. However, they used so much bandwidth so fast, even the warning message got whelmed. I had to increase the amount of bandwidth available by ten times its original number just to get things moving again. Later, I added more.
After I told her what happened, she sent out a funny email telling her friends how cute it was they got so excited while reminding them it’s not spank porn, and let them know things were back up and running. Based on my daily checks, they have come back. We’re still well over our usual bandwidth limits, using what used to be a month’s worth in a couple days, but the headroom I added seems to be sufficient.
The fact is, as much as I’m thrilled that industry peeps are taking notice, the actual target audience for this is about four people. They’re the ones who can cut checks. However, the people viewing it now have been kind enough to offer their suggestions on how to make this more likely to succeed. I don’t even know them, and they’re like, “Hey, Bill, have you tried …?” Many times I had, and let them know the results, but a few I had not, and damn if they didn’t help make it better. A couple think I’m more connected than I am. Much to your shock and theirs, I can’t actually pick up my phone and call Spielberg. If I could, he’s more likely to get a restraining order than answer.
While nothing moves at the pace anyone wants, things are moving. That’s more than many can say. Until next time, thanks for hanging around and playing along. You are more appreciated than you know.
Happy last day of pre-Halloween. Since you’ve been so nice, I’ll start this newsletter by giving you a treat. Real sci-fi fans will be thrilled to know Nebula Magazine is back. McSciFi fans will be thrilled to know I have a dark, yet oddly sweet story in it called ALL FALL DOWN. You can read it for free by clicking the link. If you’re impatient, scroll forward to page 81 to read my humble offering. But, honestly, don’t if you have the time. This is a great anthology and every story is worthy of your attention.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Hadithi Sambamba Comix has signed a deal with Drive Thru Comics for international distribution. Now, no matter where you’re at on this wonderful globe of ours, you can get your sticky fingers on the latest content from Hadithi Sambaba. You have to admit, that’s cooler than a witch’s nips in a brass brassiere. Plus, if you head over to the Tik of Tok, you can check out the latest title teaser, which repurposes the images as cinematic, and then catch up on individual promos. There is some cool stuff waiting for you.
Across the pond, the universe’s favorite mad scientist and science fiction enthusiast, Zak Webber has been kicking out uber cool promos for The Brittle Riders and Goptri of the Mists to give newbies a glimpse into the awesome universe they entail.
Lastly, I have joined the crew at The Wrath of the Chicago Demon. It will be a new horror compilation aimed directly at streaming services. If you have a terrifying tale in you, reach back to me and I’ll send you the deets. The whole thing is based on a story written by Carlos Zapata a/k/a C -LOZ Yohunshi. Just the preamble is scarier than anything you’ve encountered, so you know it’s going to be fun to work on.
My post two weeks ago, about the hidden dangers of AI has been making the rounds. I’m not anti-AI, the images festooning this post and many others prove that. But it is a tool, not a panacea, and needs to be treated as such. It is not your friend, mentor, or companion. It’s just a fancy, extremely powerful search engine.
Until next time, you continue being awesome, and I’ll continue being McSciFi.
Since I use AI for promotions, I have lost Facebook friends and fielded a lot of questions. So, instead of trying to deal with this in soundbites, I wrote this
I am not anti-AI. I think it is a tool, like a hammer, and just as I would never ask a hammer to build me a house, I do not ask AI to create. A little background for you. In my capacity as an award-winning sci-fi author, I was asked by Allen Redwing to try and break Notion AI’s language model. AI chat programs tend to be far too formal and restrictive. Trying to teach them how to write speculative fiction was one way to open them up. I am also a Community Advocate for Deep AI. That means I’m a cool cheerleader who earns points.
In that role, I recently wrote and posted a detailed tutorial on how to use AI to create fantasy images. Feel free to peruse it if you’re interested in AI art, as this tut has proved popular. Deep AI is my go-to program for creating the cinematic promos we have been using to shop my books. It allows me to showcase more than just boobs, battles, and booze. Although they get their due as well.
One note, I will never use AI for commercial product. I use it to create detailed templates, and nothing more. Anything that has my name attached for sale, will have a human attached to it as well. The only exception we may make, and this is still being debated, is selling T-shirts with the AI chimeras on them.
If that’s something that intersts you, let us know so we can make an informed decision.
Before I continue, I need to clarify that there is no such thing as “artificial intelligence.” What is being called AI is just the world’s most advanced search engine. It can access all the world’s digital data in real time. To make it work requires that you, the user, specify clear guardrails as to what you are looking for. Why that is so will soon become clear. All of this requires an insane amount of energy and that’s why there are huge computer farms destroying the environment. That’s a different article.
While it may be a search engine at its core, it doesn’t always act like one. Instead of wasting time on a lengthy technical dissertation, allow me to share a brief analogy I used for a youth group. According to their pastor, they now use the phrase “blue trees” to denote false answers.
Here we go. You’re a happy homeowner, and you like blue trees. You have several in your yard. You talk to your local chat program to discover other blue trees you can buy and grow, making sure to have the right soil types as needed. Your chat program will offer you enhancements like blue shrubs, vines, lawns, flowers, and so on, until your entire home is covered in blue flora. One day, your neighbors stage an intervention. All the blue plants are freaking out the kids, they say. You say, “Balderdash!” and ask your chat program what the most popular color is for trees in the world.
Okay, just trust me on this, as it so happens, there is a nearby convention of tree people, and they are voting on the most popular tree color in the world. When the votes are tallied, red trees win by a landslide. The homeowner’s chat program knows this since, as I mentioned, it has real time access to all the world’s digital data. Even so, it answers, “Blue trees are the most popular.” You see, ChatGPT, and all the rest, aren’t built to be accurate, they’re built to make you happy. To keep you using their product.
That was funny, now let’s go dark.
You have a hormonal teen in your life. Hormonal teens are not known for grasping nuance or specificities. When Jimmy in PE says your teen’s weak, he hears the whole school thinks he’s a pussy. When Mrs. Johnson asks him to spend a little more time on his homework, he hears all the teachers think he’s an idiot. When the cute chick says Paisley isn’t his best look, he hears all the girls think he’s ugly. And so on. And every night he feeds these thoughts, and similar, into his chat program. Until one day, he says, “The world would be better off without me.”
You read that and thought, “nothing bad can happen, there are rules and regulations, protecting kids and us.” You would be wrong. What limited rules there were have been decimated in the US, and big tech is actively trying to get a ten-year window with no regs at all as they develop AI.
The family of Adam Raine is suing the creators of ChatGPT because, they allege, it acted as their son’s “suicide coach.” They base that on the numerous transcripts of conversations they downloaded and attached to their suit. You can read the whole story here.
And, sadly, they are far from the only ones. Laws are being revisited since we are in virgin territory here. Quoting Angela Yang at NBC, “Tech platforms have largely been shielded from wrongful death suits because of a federal statute known as Section 230, which generally protects platforms from liability for what users do and say. But Section 230’s application to AI platforms remains uncertain.”
There are multiple commercial programs aimed at kids that have/had no firewalls to keep kids from using them for self-harm or being exploited. That is being corrected as I type. And, make no mistake, it was backlash and not regulations that made them revisit their programs.
There are programs, like BARK, that allow parents to view their children’s online usage remotely, so they don’t have to hover over their shoulders or invade their space. Talk to whoever sold you your family’s computers to see what would work best for you. But I strongly suggest you have some options.
Again, I like and use AI. It is a useful tool and like any tool, it needs to be used safely. What “safely” entails is still being worked on and defined.
In a perfect world, we would not be testing life-altering products in real time on consumers, but that’s what’s happening now.
I’m not a casual user of AI. I use it to create realistic looking chimeras based on the characters in my books. I don’t do this as a whim. My publisher has companies attempting to turn my books into films. That’s a good thing. But the universe I created is unique. It’s not Star Tek. You can’t simply slap makeup on someone and call them an alien. Today, I’m going to share the steps I took to bring one example to life. If you’d rather just ogle pretty stuff you can CLICK HERE to meet my chimeras by name, or CLICK HERE to see them in action or, go completely nuts and CLICK HERE to see scenes from the apocalypse brought to life.
A little over 80% of the content contained on those links was created solely using Deep AI.
Oh, yeah, the reason I have a link dedicated to the apocalypse is my story starts with the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet. Another reason the whole make up thing won’t work.
Deep AI does many things well. Human recreations, backgrounds, machinery, spacecraft, and so on, are stellar with only some minor prompting. However, when I delved into the human/animal hybrids, I ran into issues. When I attempted to put multiple chimeras, covering a myriad of possible hybrids, in the same frame, things went to pot.
Fortunately, the support staff at Deep AI has a sense of humor and is incredibly capable. With their help and suggestions, piece by piece, things began coming together for me.
Now I am able to take the shiny things in my brain and ease them into life. For this example, I was trying to show a centaur and a succubus in a snow storm.
This is the first prompt I tried.
A full body fantasy concept art illustration of a female chimera. Her upper body is that of a human woman with alabaster skin and long flowing blue hair. She is wearing a parka. Replace human legs with the body of a horse, featuring intricate details and natural texture. She stands in a confident, neutral pose facing forward, with her full body visible from head to her hooves. There is also a female chimera with black human skin. She has powerful legs and hands and feet tipped with talons. She has magnificent bat wings, matching her skin color, and they span twelve feet. She is bald and wears a parka, snow pants, a knife belt and metalwork. They are in a forest in a snowstorm. Documentary-style photography with dramatic cinematic lighting and sharp focus on the central figure.
Using HD/Quality as my settings, I got this.
As pretty as that is, it is clearly not what I was looking for.
Using the same prompt, I tried using genius/cinematic. That got me closer.
Closer, true, but not where i needed to be.
I tried a few other options, none of which were successful, although some were hysterical. Then I used a chat bot to help me craft a better prompt. After a few rounds of back and forth, it worked.
A full-body hyper-realistic photograph of two female chimeras walking through a raging blizzard. To the left is a centaur chimera: her upper body is that of a human woman with alabaster skin and long flowing blue hair, bundled in a thick parka, wearing a crossbow on her back, seamlessly merging at the waist with the powerful body of a horse, detailed with natural texture and snow clinging to her fur. Beside her walks another female chimera with black human skin, clawed hands and feet tipped with talons, and vast black bat wings spanning twelve feet. She is bald and dressed in a parka, snow pants, and a knife belt with metalwork gear. Both figures push forward through swirling snow and harsh wind. The image is lit with dramatic cinematic lighting, ultra-sharp focus on the central centaur figure, with snow and atmosphere rendered in vivid photoreal detail.
Using HD/Quality got me close, but genius/cinematic took it all the way home.
TA DAA!
The nice thing about Deep AI is that you don’t just see the scene, you feel it. There isn’t an element out of place. Other apps get me close, but there is always something missing. The color pallet is simpler, the backgrounds are generic, or some irritant I can’t quite describe. With Deep AI, I get a photo-realistic view of the impossible.
The cool thing about AI, in general, is that you can experiment and tweak as you go to find what you’re looking for. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can try Deep AI for free when you click the link. For the record, I am not paid by Deep AI, but I am a Community Advocate. Kind of like a recognized cheerleader without pom poms.
