10 Comments
Jan 30, 2023Liked by Hanif Kureishi

Loved this - engaging and thought-provoking. Wonder if the chatbot didn't get the dark mischief and twisted playfulness you were asking it for because that's so intrinsically *human*. Write your screenplay, and the next one, and the next one, as dark and wild and human as you dare. You're holding all the torches - you can do it!

Expand full comment
Jan 30, 2023Liked by Hanif Kureishi

There are a number of visual based apps which provide the artist equivalent in terms of imagery. The app spends time learning about and how to replicate styles - painting styles of anything on the internet. Including Instagram, and Artists websites. The debate rages. Is this just another tool or something of a different order? It’s only the first iteration. In the right hands I suppose it would be useful. The influencer types on opaque SM platforms might be more cavalier and pass off work as their own. X

Expand full comment
Jan 30, 2023Liked by Hanif Kureishi

Personally I have had little experience, other than one session with my son, who is a screenwriter and film maker, and his son (my grandson), a musician, who introduced us to ChatGPT. Within a second, the app had composed a synopsis to the sequel to my son's film. And later, it solved a very difficult recipe problem. The sequel was credible if not interesting. The recipe more interesting. We have had a family conundrum. My ex-husband, my son's father, not being a cook, came up with a horrible idea when we were young- he wanted to make what he imagined would be a fantastic dish out of specific very strongly flavored and incompatible ingredients. It was very funny that he imagined this, and over the years, it's come down in family lore as a challenge. Just this last Christmas my grandson and I attempted to meet the challenge, with some success. But the app, without any fuss, adding a bit here and there, came up with a 'credible' recipe, one I think I will try.

I found this entry really funny, and thank you. ChatGPT was rewarding the winner with the task of killing the father, for most of the experiment. It's interesting that the word kill did not seem to have any real relationship to any action in real life as far as the app was concerned. I'm busy reassuring my artist and writing family that this does not really threaten them- and even that it can be used in some way since it is now part of our lives, like climate change.

Expand full comment

Did you consider asking it to write in the style of Hanif Kureishi?

Expand full comment

My somewhat frustrating experiment with ChatGPT left me with a whole load of primitive, grammatically incorrect nonsense in response to a similar prompt (different story, different genre). But I do love feeding words into MidJourney when I try to create visual references for a pitch deck. It started with a similarly abysmal outcome, but as I went on - the images got better.

Expand full comment

Great article, Hanif. Your perspective is a very welcome addition to the conversation around generative AI. I too am a fiction writer (who loved The Buddha of Suburbia, by the way) who's been experimenting with AI. I've written a number of articles about it now. I'll link to a few, in case you're curious, and I'll look forward to further dispatches from you.

https://medium.com/@gammarino/ai-nick-cave-and-the-annihilation-of-the-human-heart-d4f17a0fcdd3?sk=dc844b6187268af2958dcfb1ac127008

https://medium.com/@gammarino/is-chatgpt-good-for-the-world-7d0c087e7d86?sk=3be6b0066ea8de7b4f200fa31af0eec8

https://medium.com/@gammarino/art-pollution-what-is-ai-doing-to-our-sense-of-beauty-3332f8f68b37?sk=1324330d1bca481596ad3307b69f6688

Expand full comment

Very interesting.I will certainly investigate.

Expand full comment