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wolfpridestudio · 1 month ago

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Hmm, what an amazing looking game! The image looks great, and the words on Chica's bib are so clear, and the skeletons don't feel random. Let's see what the game is about.

Welcome to *ShowBiz Pizza Fiesta: Night Shift*, a text-based fan game inspired by the thrilling mechanics of *Five Nights at Freddy's*! Step into the shoes of the night security guard at the once-beloved *ShowBiz Pizza Fiesta*, a family-friendly pizzeria filled with animatronic characters. However, as the clock strikes midnight, the animatronics come to life, and your survival becomes the ultimate challenge.

Gameplay Overview:

You must survive a single, intense six-minute night (in real-time) while managing limited resources and outsmarting the animatronics. The game combines elements from *Five Nights at Freddy's 1* and *2*, including door controls, lights, a Freddy mask, and a music box. As time passes, the animatronics grow more aggressive, and your decisions will determine whether you make it to 6 AM.

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Key Features:

1. Resource Management:

- Energy: Use energy to power doors, lights, and cameras. Manage it wisely, as running out of energy will leave you defenseless.

- Music Box: Wind up the music box to prevent a specific animatronic from leaving its box and attacking you. Let it run down, and you'll face an instant game over.

2. Defense Mechanisms:

- Doors and Lights: Close the left and right doors to block animatronics, but keep an eye on your energy consumption. Use the lights to check if an animatronic is lurking outside.

- Freddy Mask: Put on the mask to fool animatronics that enter your office. But be careful—some animatronics aren't fooled so easily.

3. Cameras:

- Monitor the animatronics' movements through a network of cameras. Use the cameras to track their locations and plan your defenses.

- Each camera provides a text-based description of what you see, such as "The animatronic is in the hallway" or "The stage is empty."

4. Dynamic Difficulty:

- As milliseconds and seconds pass, the animatronics become more aggressive and unpredictable. Their behavior changes based on the time elapsed, making the game progressively harder.

5. Real-Time Survival:

- The game runs in real-time, with six minutes representing the full night. Every second counts, and you must act quickly to survive.

6. Text-Based Immersion:

- The game uses descriptive text to create a tense and immersive atmosphere. From the eerie silence of the pizzeria to the sudden sound of footsteps, your imagination will fuel the horror.

7. Extras Menu:

- Unlock additional content, such as animatronic lore, behind-the-scenes information, and custom night challenges.

How to Play:

- Use the menu to interact with the environment:

- 1, 2, 3, 4: Switch between cameras to monitor animatronics.

- Doors: Close or open the left and right doors to block animatronics.

- Lights: Check the hallways for animatronics.

- Mask: Equip the Freddy mask to hide from animatronics in your office.

- Music Box: Wind up the music box to keep a specific animatronic at bay.

- Keep an eye on your energy levels and the music box percentage. Let either run out, and you'll face dire consequences.

Story:

You’ve taken the night shift at *ShowBiz Pizza Fiesta*, a once-popular pizzeria that has seen better days. The animatronics, once the stars of the show, now roam the building at night, driven by a mysterious force. Your job is simple: survive until 6 AM. But as the night progresses, you’ll uncover dark secrets about the pizzeria and its animatronic inhabitants.

Why Play?

- A unique text-based twist on the *Five Nights at Freddy's* formula.

- Tense, real-time gameplay that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

- Strategic resource management and decision-making.

- A nostalgic yet terrifying atmosphere inspired by classic animatronic horror.

Wow, what a descriptive description that certainly doesn't sound like it was from Copilot.

#Never playing this game #i hate ai #I don't even want to know what the gameplay is like #I wonder how many of these there are #“art”#ai #ai generated #ai image #chatgpt #copilot #artificial intelligence #technology #fnaf fandom #fnaf #five nights at freddys #funny #freddy fazbear #fnaf 1 #chica the chicken

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dresshistorynerd · 2 months ago

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That ChatGPT ask about The Great Famine made me think about how generative AI is so devastating for historical understanding, but especially the understanding of dress history. There's a lot of completely inaccurate history AI slop, both generated images and writing. I'm always searching primary source images, but even then I've started to come across the occasional AI generated image, which is always very bad. Google image search is at this point almost useless.

The issue is that there's so much outdated information and frankly misinformation about history in the internet and in other source materials the AI scraps. This is of course an issue with many other fields as well, but history definitely belong to the fields which have most misinformation spread about them. When a human armed with a bit of critical thinking comes across a source they can evaluate it's validity. But AI doesn't have critical thinking. It can't think. So if there's a lot of sources, which peddle the same common misconception, AI weights it above what the few rigorous academic sources say. And then the AI becomes basically a misinformation peddling machine. And there's no way of finding our where it got it's information. Even the AI doesn't really know because of the way it works, and that's why, when you try to ask it, it tries to scours for sources that say similar things it was saying rather than giving the actual source it got the information from. And if it doesn't find a source? Well, it might hallucinate one. This is of course an issue in multiple level not just because it's filling the internet with misinformation and drowning out reliable information. It's also basically a plagiarism machine.

This is even worse with dress history than most historical fields, because dress history is such a new field and there's comparatively very little quality research. Even many historians of different fields peddle a lot of old misconceptions of dress history (sometimes you even come across a fairly new paper on dress history and there's some misconception repeated as a truth). So of course AI is very unlikely to produce anything close to accurate information on dress history.

So to see for myself how bad it actually is (and to have a bit of laugh) I decided to try out ChatGPT for the first time. I decided I would ask it a question I have answered in a blog post myself before to see how close (or far) it got.

Here's what I asked: "When did it become socially acceptable for men to wear dresses?"

I have written a very long post on this before found here.

And here's the answer ChatGPT gave with my commentary:

The idea of men wearing dresses has evolved significantly over time, with different periods in history showcasing varying degrees of acceptance. In general, men have worn clothing that could be considered "dress-like" at various points in history, though the specific social context has changed. 1. Ancient and Medieval Times: Men in many ancient cultures, including the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, wore tunics, robes, or other garments that we might now think of as dresses. These were considered appropriate for men, often signifying social status, wealth, or ceremonial importance.

Not bad, though this makes it sound like men only wore dresses to signify status, wealth or ceremonial importance, when in fact all men wore dresses. I also made a point in my post to say these were dresses, not just "dress-like". They were (mostly) constructed and (mostly) called the same as the equivalent clothing women wore, so of course I take issue with the framing.

2. Renaissance and Early Modern Period: During the Renaissance and up through the 17th century, men’s fashion included elaborate gowns, skirts, and dresses, often with frills, lace, and rich fabrics. These were considered fashionable and elegant for men, particularly among the aristocracy.

Here's were we're getting to the inaccurate territory. Yes still during renaissance men were wearing dresses, however it was becoming fashionable among especially young noble (and soldier class) men to wear extremely tiny skirts, until they stopped being skirts and turned into very fitted thighs (hose) and doublet. It was the period when dress became increasingly less acceptable for men to wear, but it was precisely lower class and peasant men, who were slower to follow the new fashions and masculine standards, not very surprisingly. But by Early Modern Period it had become unacceptable for men to wear dresses. Yes, there was still hems at points, but those were coat hems, which might seem like basically the same as a skirt hem, but conceptually they were different. It's the same today. No one thinks nothing of it if a man is wearing a long overcoat, with buttons closed, on top of a suit, but if they are wearing thighs and same length skirt? Well, for the next couple of weeks you'll get outrage op-eds and conservative influencers losing their minds over "the death of Western civilization".

Also in 1600s (roughly around 1630s-1660s) rich fabrics and elaborated detailing was not fashionable, not among women and certainly not among men. Men's fashion especially favoured a lot of black and other dark and neutral tones, influenced by somber religious atmosphere influenced by the all the Reformations and Counter-Reformations and wars about them going on at the time. (Of course there's some counter examples, but the general statement ChatGPT gave to me is simple incorrect.)

3. 18th and 19th Century: By the 18th century, Western fashion for men became more structured, and by the Victorian era (19th century), men were expected to wear trousers, waistcoats, and suits (my comment: you mean coat right, ChatGPT?? suit already encompases trousers and waistcoat). The shift towards more gender-specific clothing for men and women took root, and women’s dresses became more ornate and feminine, while men’s clothing became more utilitarian and restrictive.

First of all the height of structuring in Western fashion for both men and women, was during the Elizabethan Era, and additionally men's fashion got briefly a little less structured during the 18th century. As I explain in my post about the actual origins of modern men's suit (it was not Beau Brummel), the three piece suit with trousers, waistcoat and coat was popularized in 1670s. Women's dresses becoming more "feminine" means literally nothing when what was feminine was just seen differently. Of course it became more feminine in our modern eyes, when we get closer to the present day in the historical timeline, because modern femininity was being formed at the time. Men's fashion did become more utilitarian (I talk about a bit about the reasons why in the post about three piece suit above), but I wouldn't call it more restrictive necessarily.

Points for ChatGPT though for acknowledging that fashion became more gender specific around 18th and 19th centuries.

4. 20th Century: The 20th century saw men in dresses or skirts make occasional appearances in fashion, especially in avant-garde or countercultural movements. For example, in the 1920s, some male actors in Hollywood (my comment: here it's "forgetting" where it's going with the sentence, because it doesn't understand what a cohesive sentence means), such as Marlene Dietrich’s famous cross-dressing moments, challenged gender norms. In the 1960s and 1970s, figures like David Bowie, with his androgynous style, brought more attention to the concept of men wearing dresses as part of a wider push for gender fluidity in fashion.

The fact that cross-dressing became more acceptable in the early 20th century for women and people seen as women, didn't really do anything (or very little) to the make cross-dressing more acceptable for men, or those seen as such. Counter culture fashions in 70s and 80s were much more accepting of androgynous men and men wearing skirts, but the wider mainstream fashion was absolutely not accepting of that, definitely not outside the rock icons, who themselves were also side-eyed a lot.

5. Late 20th to 21st Century: By the 1990s and 2000s, with the rise of gender nonconformity and movements pushing for gender equality and expression, men wearing dresses became more visible and socially accepted. Public figures like Prince, Kurt Cobain, and later, celebrities like Harry Styles and Billy Porter, have worn dresses and skirts as part of their personal style, pushing the boundaries of traditional gendered fashion.

It's absolutely still not seen as acceptable for men to wear dresses. Yes, couple of celebrities have done that, and yes there's alternative fashion and queer people who do that, but if you take a look at how people in legacy and social media talk about them, it's pretty obvious that's not socially acceptable in the mainstream.

In essence, it became more socially acceptable for men to wear dresses as part of a broader cultural shift toward embracing non-binary gender expression and rejecting rigid gender norms, especially in the 21st century. Celebrities, designers, and activists have played key roles in challenging the old norms, making fashion more inclusive and fluid. This acceptance continues to grow in many parts of the world, although social attitudes can still vary greatly depending on cultural context.

"A broader cultural shift toward embracing non-binary gender expression and rejecting rigid gender norms." Laughing crying. Yeah, there was a cultural shift, but clearly it was not super broad. It's really laughable to suggest in the heart of the reactionary backlash moment that it's somehow broadly socially acceptable for men to wear dresses.

Also this "although social attitudes can still vary greatly depending on cultural context" makes it sound like outside the western context, which this answer is all about, the attitudes haven't changes as much, when in fact outside the western context dresses for men are much more often acceptable and part of the cultural norms.

Perhaps it was unfair of me to ask my question in a misleading way, since the answer to "when did it become acceptable for men to wear dresses" is "it was for a very long time, but it's not anymore". But this is part of the issue with ChatGPT and similar text based AI. When you ask them a question they will take the assumptions of the question and run with them, even if the assumptions in the question are completely false. It's not just a misinformation machine, but a misinformation machine designed to reinforce your preconceived notions. For example if you would ask ChatGPT "why were corsets unhealthy?" it might answer with a very long answer full of pseudoscientific misinformation straight from the mouths of Victorian eugenists. I did that and the answer was extremely predictably. I'm not going to go through all that since is was so very long and this is getting long enough, but for a taste, after all the bullshit reasons it gave, here's what it wrote at the end:

Why Corsets Were Worn Despite Health Risks: Fashion and Aesthetic Appeal: Corsets were primarily worn to achieve a specific beauty standard that emphasized an extremely small waist and a curvy figure. This was considered a symbol of femininity, refinement, and social status during certain historical periods. Cultural Norms: The societal pressure to conform to the idealized figure meant many women endured discomfort and health risks to fit into the norms of the time.

The biggest eyeroll. Of course nothing about how it distributes the weight of the boobs much more comfortably in the waist rather than the shoulders, or how the heavy dresses people wore needed support or movement would have been very difficult, or how it was an easy way to alter the body, any kind of body, to the fashionable silhouette without needing any invasive procedures or dangerous diets. The most classic, most predictable corset misinformation. This is exactly what I meant at the beginning. The internet is so full of this bullshit already, in the AI algorithm it makes it true.

The lesson is: do not use ChatCPT as your search engine and don't trust it as your source of information. There is numerous of issues with generative AI and the spread of misinformation is certainly one of the biggest, seeing how much death and destruction misinformation has caused only with vanilla social media. I'm afraid to think about the repercussions of refining that metaphorical misinformation machine with the literal misinformation machine. If you want to do research into dress history yourself, but don't know where to start, rather than asking ChatGPT, here's my tips for where to start.

Also be skeptical of the sources you find in the internet, including everything I write. In the age of generative AI it's even more important to use proper sourcing. I'm definitely not perfect about this, since I'm extremely chaotic in my research most of the time and bad at keeping my sources in good order (I don't want to do boring stuff when researching for my hobby, I do that enough for uni), but I'm making an effort to be better about it, at least for my more structured posts. But if you want to know any sources I've used for any reason, when I haven't listed them, you're always free to ask. I might have it somewhere among my 500 open tabs still open, or I might still be able to find it again. So anyway, be skeptical of writings (again, including mine) which don't have sources listed, not just because it could be AI, but also because the same issues apply outside AI - it's much harder to evaluate how trustworthy the writing is or to know weather it's plagiarized.

#anti ai #history #research #historical research #generative ai #chat gpt #dress history

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gaykarstaagforever · 3 months ago

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I was going to do a whole journalistic deep-dive of this, but upon further reflection, 1) that would require labor I don't want to do, and 2) everyone but me is probably aware of this kind of shit and over it by now.

But I want to talk for a moment about a new "Country Gospel Christian" artist that is "blowing up" on YouTube and Spotify right now (I'm being sarcastic) named Aisha Sparkle.

YouTube Music, forever may it functionally persist, decided to drop one of her songs into my stream. Curious, I DuckDuckGo'd her.

Oddly enough, no image results matched the picture of the lady tied to the track.

Okay, fine. DuckDuckGo isn't perfect. There's still Google. Let's see.

Okay. She's pretty!

...Is that...the same lady?

Wait. Who the hell is that?

And none of these look like the track art, which looks like this:

Who is THIS, then? There is no way two country gospel singers have that same weird name --

......Wait a minute.

......OH YOU BASTARDS.

Yeah so this is AI generated, at least partially. All these tracks and entire albums have been dumped online, everywhere, in the last couple days, all with different lazy AI art.

The songs themselves are at least some kind of guided AI, because they're lyrically a little awkward at times, but sound like actual songs, with structure. Or it's just a really good AI, trained on this kind of music.

Honestly, the bar for white people "praise and worship" music is so low, it's hard to tell. Just endlessly mash up a handful of vaguely-positive Christian-esque platitudes, maybe start with a hooky chorus, and literally anyone or anything can generate one of these, and it sounds...good enough.

Then synth the music and get an AI voice of a white lady, and bam. Time to generate some money!

I just did one on ChatGPT, with the chorus "We Rise in Glory":

"We Rise in Glory" Verse 1: We lift our hearts, we lift our hands, To honor You, our Maker, Lord, With every breath, we praise Your name, Forever we will worship You, forever we will stand. Pre-Chorus: Through every trial, through every storm, You hold us close, You keep us warm. Our hope is sure, our faith is strong, We’ll rise with You, our souls belong. Chorus: We rise in glory, we rise in grace, Lifted by Your love, we seek Your face. With hearts united, we stand as one, In Your glory, our victory's won. We rise in glory, we rise in You, Our hearts surrender, our spirits renewed. Verse 2: The chains are broken, the dark is gone, Your light has come to lead us on. We run the race, we press ahead, In the power of the cross, we are led. Pre-Chorus: Through every trial, through every storm, You hold us close, You keep us warm. Our hope is sure, our faith is strong, We’ll rise with You, our souls belong. Chorus: We rise in glory, we rise in grace, Lifted by Your love, we seek Your face. With hearts united, we stand as one, In Your glory, our victory's won. We rise in glory, we rise in You, Our hearts surrender, our spirits renewed. Bridge: Let the heavens declare, let the earth sing loud, We are rising, we are shining, we wear the victor’s crown. By Your power, by Your might, we stand, In Your glory, we find our land. Chorus (Reprise): We rise in glory, we rise in grace, Lifted by Your love, we seek Your face. With hearts united, we stand as one, In Your glory, our victory's won. We rise in glory, we rise in You, Our hearts surrender, our spirits renewed. Outro: We rise in glory, we rise in You, Forever faithful, forever true.

Tell me that's in any way substantially different than this:

youtube

We all know this is doable and relatively easy now. But it's still amazing to run into it in the wild.

Whoever did this isn't even hiding it, obviously. The AI photos are lazy, and they're flooding the platforms with it. Which is the point. People who stream this kind of music probably won't notice that it's AI slop, because it is just good enough to pass as the mid thing they like.

And they don't seem to notice or care, judging from the YouTube comments.

...Assuming any of those are even real. That's probably part of the algorithm pumping, fake engagement.

Again, we all know this is what can be done now. But to stumble into it is still jarring. Especially when YouTube Music just drops it into an auto playlist.

Interesting note: why didn't DuckDuckGo show me any of these pictures? And why, then, did Google?

My guess is, while both are now using AI in search results, DuckDuckGo might still be sensible enough to weed out AI slop from search results. Because no one is looking for AI slop. And of course Google absolutely does not care, because they want to be the world's foremost AI slop company.

I went hard for awhile with AI art, to understand how it's made and all its quirks. And maybe that taught me something. I don't know. I assume everyone can become canny enough to sniff this crap out.

And clearly we have to, because this kind of thing is only going to get worse.

...Also AI-generated fiddles don't sound quite right. And the lyrics are always off in subtle little ways. And all the songs are around 3 minutes and don't have instrumental breaks.

...Also, Aisha Sparkle? That was the first red flag. It's probably some esoteric SEO thing, but it's so transparent. Issa Sparks would be better. Traylor Switch. Take it seriously, you bums.

All of this still requires a careful human hand to pull off atm, and shockingly, people scamming Christians for money are only willing to work so hard at it. Usually because they don't have to.

And that's certainly not something you need AI for. But damn if it doesn't make it faster!

Also NO, I'm not the one doing this. I like making fun of terrible people, not being one. Plus, why put all of this work in to make garbage for maybe a little bit of money, temporarily? Just make a good thing, if you can, and that could maybe generate a little money forever. You have to really just care about money NOW NOW NOW and nothing else to commit yourself to shit like this.

And if I cared about money, I wouldn't pay to use Tumblr. Like, come on.

#ai slop #aisha sparkle #Youtube

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fiamat12 · 2 months ago

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Re: NDA Timeline & Resolution

Timeline of speculated NDA obligations (that we know of) BELOW. There could've been other perks/ connections bts. The timeline for Round 1 & Round 2 show similar patterns but a more aggressive push this time around, and Luke being more deliberately disconnected.

Round 1:

•June 13, London premiere - pap pics & news article (tbf that's what she got, not sure this one was planned)

• June 15, D & G show - after-party w/ Luke & Holly

• Week of June 24, LA trip - pap pictures w/ Luke

•July 3-5, GQ event - multiple pictures & networking

• Week of July 29, Sorrento trip - pap pics w/ Luke & news article

•July/ Aug./ Sept. - likes on IG

*Note: A went to the Marbella resort in Spain at some point over the summer, prob. as a perk - didn't see pics until Oct.

Re-negotiation/ limbo period

• Oct. - likes on IG, friends & colleagues commenting

• Nov - image rehab pics w/ friends, possible networking in Rome

• Dec. - IG like, image rehab pics w/ friends, leaked pics w/ family

Round 2:

• Jan. 30 Boss event - red carpet w/ Luke & news article

•Feb. 16 Baftas after party - pic w/Luke & news article

• Nicola follows Antonia soon after SAGs

• March 6 - IG post w/ Lukola liking and family, friends & colleagues commenting

• March 18 - Pap pics w/ Luke & news article

• March 21 Yungblud concert - pic w/ Luke

Resolution strategy:

From Discord/ ChatGPT Anon -

"Close friend" narrative ⤵️

(Tbf this is only one way; she specifically asked about a friend narrative)

The final result = Lukola launch ⏬️

#let's get this done #lukola in #adjacents out

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elwenyere · 1 month ago

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I saw a post the other day calling criticism of generative AI a moral panic, and while I do think many proprietary AI technologies are being used in deeply unethical ways, I think there is a substantial body of reporting and research on the real-world impacts of the AI boom that would trouble the comparison to a moral panic: while there *are* older cultural fears tied to negative reactions to the perceived newness of AI, many of those warnings are Luddite with a capital L - that is, they're part of a tradition of materialist critique focused on the way the technology is being deployed in the political economy. So (1) starting with the acknowledgement that a variety of machine-learning technologies were being used by researchers before the current "AI" hype cycle, and that there's evidence for the benefit of targeted use of AI techs in settings where they can be used by trained readers - say, spotting patterns in radiology scans - and (2) setting aside the fact that current proprietary LLMs in particular are largely bullshit machines, in that they confidently generate errors, incorrect citations, and falsehoods in ways humans may be less likely to detect than conventional disinformation, and (3) setting aside as well the potential impact of frequent offloading on human cognition and of widespread AI slop on our understanding of human creativity...

What are some of the material effects of the "AI" boom?

Guzzling water and electricity

The data centers needed to support AI technologies require large quantities of water to cool the processors. A to-be-released paper from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington finds, for example, that "ChatGPT needs to 'drink' [the equivalent of] a 500 ml bottle of water for a simple conversation of roughly 20-50 questions and answers." Many of these data centers pull water from already water-stressed areas, and the processing needs of big tech companies are expanding rapidly. Microsoft alone increased its water consumption from 4,196,461 cubic meters in 2020 to 7,843,744 cubic meters in 2023. AI applications are also 100 to 1,000 times more computationally intensive than regular search functions, and as a result the electricity needs of data centers are overwhelming local power grids, and many tech giants are abandoning or delaying their plans to become carbon neutral. Google’s greenhouse gas emissions alone have increased at least 48% since 2019. And a recent analysis from The Guardian suggests the actual AI-related increase in resource use by big tech companies may be up to 662%, or 7.62 times, higher than they've officially reported.

Exploiting labor to create its datasets

Like so many other forms of "automation," generative AI technologies actually require loads of human labor to do things like tag millions of images to train computer vision for ImageNet and to filter the texts used to train LLMs to make them less racist, sexist, and homophobic. This work is deeply casualized, underpaid, and often psychologically harmful. It profits from and re-entrenches a stratified global labor market: many of the data workers used to maintain training sets are from the Global South, and one of the platforms used to buy their work is literally called the Mechanical Turk, owned by Amazon.

From an open letter written by content moderators and AI workers in Kenya to Biden: "US Big Tech companies are systemically abusing and exploiting African workers. In Kenya, these US companies are undermining the local labor laws, the country’s justice system and violating international labor standards. Our working conditions amount to modern day slavery."

Deskilling labor and demoralizing workers

The companies, hospitals, production studios, and academic institutions that have signed contracts with providers of proprietary AI have used those technologies to erode labor protections and worsen working conditions for their employees. Even when AI is not used directly to replace human workers, it is deployed as a tool for disciplining labor by deskilling the work humans perform: in other words, employers use AI tech to reduce the value of human labor (labor like grading student papers, providing customer service, consulting with patients, etc.) in order to enable the automation of previously skilled tasks. Deskilling makes it easier for companies and institutions to casualize and gigify what were previously more secure positions. It reduces pay and bargaining power for workers, forcing them into new gigs as adjuncts for its own technologies.

I can't say anything better than Tressie McMillan Cottom, so let me quote her recent piece at length: "A.I. may be a mid technology with limited use cases to justify its financial and environmental costs. But it is a stellar tool for demoralizing workers who can, in the blink of a digital eye, be categorized as waste. Whatever A.I. has the potential to become, in this political environment it is most powerful when it is aimed at demoralizing workers. This sort of mid tech would, in a perfect world, go the way of classroom TVs and MOOCs. It would find its niche, mildly reshape the way white-collar workers work and Americans would mostly forget about its promise to transform our lives. But we now live in a world where political might makes right. DOGE’s monthslong infomercial for A.I. reveals the difference that power can make to a mid technology. It does not have to be transformative to change how we live and work. In the wrong hands, mid tech is an antilabor hammer."

Enclosing knowledge production and destroying open access

OpenAI started as a non-profit, but it has now become one of the most aggressive for-profit companies in Silicon Valley. Alongside the new proprietary AIs developed by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, X, etc., OpenAI is extracting personal data and scraping copyrighted works to amass the data it needs to train their bots - even offering one-time payouts to authors to buy the rights to frack their work for AI grist - and then (or so they tell investors) they plan to sell the products back at a profit. As many critics have pointed out, proprietary AI thus works on a model of political economy similar to the 15th-19th-century capitalist project of enclosing what was formerly "the commons," or public land, to turn it into private property for the bourgeois class, who then owned the means of agricultural and industrial production. "Open"AI is built on and requires access to collective knowledge and public archives to run, but its promise to investors (the one they use to attract capital) is that it will enclose the profits generated from that knowledge for private gain.

AI companies hungry for good data to train their Large Language Models (LLMs) have also unleashed a new wave of bots that are stretching the digital infrastructure of open-access sites like Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, and Internet Archive past capacity. As Eric Hellman writes in a recent blog post, these bots "use as many connections as you have room for. If you add capacity, they just ramp up their requests." In the process of scraping the intellectual commons, they're also trampling and trashing its benefits for truly public use.

Enriching tech oligarchs and fueling military imperialism

The names of many of the people and groups who get richer by generating speculative buzz for generative AI - Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Larry Ellison - are familiar to the public because those people are currently using their wealth to purchase political influence and to win access to public resources. And it's looking increasingly likely that this political interference is motivated by the probability that the AI hype is a bubble - that the tech can never be made profitable or useful - and that tech oligarchs are hoping to keep it afloat as a speculation scheme through an infusion of public money - a.k.a. an AIG-style bailout.

In the meantime, these companies have found a growing interest from military buyers for their tech, as AI becomes a new front for "national security" imperialist growth wars. From an email written by Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad, who interrupted Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman at a live event to call him a war profiteer: "When I moved to AI Platform, I was excited to contribute to cutting-edge AI technology and its applications for the good of humanity: accessibility products, translation services, and tools to 'empower every human and organization to achieve more.' I was not informed that Microsoft would sell my work to the Israeli military and government, with the purpose of spying on and murdering journalists, doctors, aid workers, and entire civilian families. If I knew my work on transcription scenarios would help spy on and transcribe phone calls to better target Palestinians, I would not have joined this organization and contributed to genocide. I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights."

So there's a brief, non-exhaustive digest of some vectors for a critique of proprietary AI's role in the political economy. tl;dr: the first questions of material analysis are "who labors?" and "who profits/to whom does the value of that labor accrue?"

For further (and longer) reading, check out Justin Joque's Revolutionary Mathematics: Artificial Intelligence, Statistics and the Logic of Capitalism and Karen Hao's forthcoming Empire of AI.

#proprietary ai #anti ai

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theartofeverything · 1 month ago

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Yoooooooo, who here wants to stick it to an AI obsessed professor??

So, my senior research professor is aweful and has flat out stated he thinks intellectual rights is a thing of the past and everything can and should be replaced with AI. When I told him I was making a comic for my senior project he told me I should just have AI illustrate it to save time. I have never had such a sudden overwhelming urge to strangle a man in my life. (Also the dude made us write letters pretending to be slaves??? Most uncomfortable class period I’ve ever sat through)

His latest assignment is to make a series of three flash science fiction stories, generated by ChatGPT, and immages to go along with each, also AI generated. I tried telling him I was not comfortable with this because I do not wish to use other people’s work without their consent and he litterally told me to “be quiet, this is not an ethics class.”

So, since ‘this is not an ethics class’ how would y’all like to help me cheat this assignment? I’ve got three prompts that each need to be answered with a ~300ish word sci-fi story and an image that goes with that story.

#1: Would you rather be hated for who you are or loved for someone you’re not?

#2: How do you know if you’re dreaming or awake, and does it matter?

#3: Who has the right to tell you what kind of story you’re living?

Anyone can come up with anything for these. You’re welcome to do both story and art or just one and let someone else do the other based off it. Have fun! Go crazy with it! It does not need to be a masterpiece. Absolutely anything is better than AI!

Then, with your permission, I will submit them to my professor. And he will be none the wiser. Cuz y’all are the source data anyways. It’s your writing and your art that the AI is trying to copy. So let’s cut out the middle man and do this shit ourselves.

(Reblogs would be greatly appreciated to help find people who might be interested 🙏)

#anti ai #prompt #art prompt #writing prompt #scifi #sci-fi #scifiart #scifi prompt #science fiction #science fiction prompt #want another prompt?#drawing prompt #prompt list #fic prompt #story prompt

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lunalit-river · 2 months ago

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Cultural difference [or, ME puzzled again] when I think of the term "Manipulate" when I read L's personality traits on DN wiki

I think this is a continuation of my notes on cultural differences when interpreting DN

Manipulation. (had to make this bigger)

Until recently, in our society, we only just started to understand what the hell PUA and gaslighting even are. But I suppose these concepts were much more familiar in the Western world? At least, I never once considered L manipulative. In fact—what does manipulation really mean?

When it comes to manipulation in the english meaning to us, it has this scienter meaning (in simple terms: you’re doing something wrong, and you know it, but you still do it on purpose). What comes to mind is market manipulation. But when you translate into 操縱 in Mandarin Chinese, 操作（そうさ）in Japanese, it doesn't accurated describe what the westerners are referring to.

Let’s look at some dictionary definitions. In Mandarin:

操縱:

To drive, to control (a vehicle or machine)

To command or direct → e.g., 「侯能操縱有法，賦辦而民不驚，其賢三也。」 (My crappy translation: “The Marquis commands methodically, assigns duties, and the people are not alarmed—that is his third virtue.”)

It’s a neutral term. It doesn’t imply toxicity.

And it’s similar in Japanese: 操作（そうさ） means operating a machine, a vehicle, or managing data, organizations, or systems. It’s strategic, yes, but not emotional.

They both convey the same message:

It is not typically used to describe emotional manipulation (e.g. gaslighting, PUA, coercion, guilt-tripping).

It doesn’t inherently imply malice, emotional abuse, or sociopathic cunning.

You wouldn’t use it to describe someone playing with another person’s feelings or trust.

In fact, “Manipulation” (操作, Sōsa) is the sixth chapter of the Death Note manga, mostly centered around Light. In Death Note 13: How to Read, Tsugumi Ohba says the chapter name "Manipulation" refers to Light’s experiments on Death Note victims. It’s much more like puppet-play. Once the victims’ names are written down, they lose self-consciousness. They become puppets, with strings controlled by Light. So here, manipulation clearly means control.

Now—when it comes to the image of a detective, it’s totally normal for them to be cunning. (Otherwise, how would they outsmart criminals?) This ties into a broader cultural ideology of “If you’re the best, you can do anything” (as I mentioned in my previous post). And yes—because he’s a man, it’s more accepted. The smartest and most powerful male being cunning? Society often calls that ambition.

Does L control and command? Yes, he is the lead investigator. He is cunning and he lies, which is acceptable (when we think of an image of a detective) and because he's the best, he's a male (yeah this does make a difference) We even think that a male play by fair means or foul to accomplish a goal is a sign of ambition (of course in modern days it depends on what circumstance, but if it's in business or profession, still acceptable) the term manipulation in Mandarin Chinese is almost Justified.

Let’s go back to examples of L being “manipulative” (I literally asked ChatGPT for help on this because I didn’t know where to even start looking).

The Fake L Broadcast (Episode 1 / Chapter 2) He used a death row inmate to bait Light into revealing something. Was it control? Not quite—Light still had his mind. It felt more like a basic trap, a little trick.

Placing Bugs in the Yagami Household (Episodes 3–4 / Chapters 6–9) Totally normal investigator behavior. Illegal surveillance, but no emotional manipulation.

The University Entrance Exam & Tennis Match L said, “I am L,” just to observe Light’s reaction. They were mind-gaming each other, but no psychological control.

Using Misa Amane’s Confinement & Light’s Confinement Again—illegal confinement, yes. But no emotional strings being pulled.

The rest...no.

Now, what kind of behavior does fall into the modern definition of manipulation (the emotional control type)? Yes—Light's actions. (And I’m not saying this just because I’m an L fan. Or maybe I am. Never mind, I’m just rambling—don’t take me too seriously.)

Light’s manipulation is distinct:

He tricks Naomi Misora into giving up her real name.

He makes Misa do things by pretending to love her.

But does L manipulate the task force emotionally? No.

He has authority, yes—but he doesn’t force anyone to stay on the case. (Aizawa left. They tested everyone before revealing L’s identity.) He may push Matsuda to fetch coffee and run errands, but he’s never emotionally coercive. Everyone is free to leave. He even stops Aizawa from going out when Ukita dies. He feels loss. (Okay, now we’re getting back to L as a human.)

Let’s stop here and look at the bigger picture.

In modern terms like PUA and gaslighting, manipulation is about emotional control. But we’ve only recently become aware of this. Why? Because in our society, it’s normal to subtly make people do things without saying it directly.

Under our layers of politeness, we hint, we nudge, we expect others to “read the air” (空気を読む). This is true in Japanese too. We pressure others in silence. It happens in families, schools, workplaces—everywhere. It’s cultural. It’s the norm.

The West also has passive aggression and hints, of course. But they’ve talked about manipulation as a power issue much earlier. In a society where equality is a value, the power balance is watched more carefully.

Meanwhile, in many Asian countries, the hierarchy is still deeply embedded:

Parents > children

Teachers > students

Bosses > employees

Government > citizens

This imbalance is still normal. It’s expected. (And that's why our court decisions are making an effort in breaking such hierarchy)

Compare the timelines:

The U.S. Declaration of Independence, stating "All men are created equal"? 1776.

The French Revolution? 1789, with “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” already in place.

Now let’s look East:

In the 18th century, China was under the Qing Dynasty—absolute monarchy at its peak.

Japan? Still in the Edo period. Hierarchies everywhere. No equality. Toyotomi Hideyoshi banned Western preaching. Later, the Edo government banned more Western influence. So no Western ideology got in.

Japan borrowed ideology from China. And what was China exporting? Confucianism.

Confucianism is built on hierarchy and control. The emperor is elite and rules because of it. And the tool to control people isn’t law—it’s ethics.

I lost my train of thought again.

I guess my point is: I’m poisoned by East Asian Confucian ideology. And maybe that’s why I get culture shock when I see Westerners label L as “manipulative” in a negative sense. In a society that values strategy and hierarchy, L looks like a clever commander—not an emotional puppeteer. In Japanese, L is ずる賢い (cunning, smart in a sly way). But 操作 in an emotionally control meaning which is translated directly from the term "Manipulate" is not a term that would typically describe his actions.

#death note #l lawliet #murmurs about life and writing #death note meta #light yagami #Yapping about Death Note

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sevinagreatergood · 1 month ago

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I want to talk about the comment whose name is too long. That motherfucker. Before anyone goes for my head. I said that Snape built the marauders fandom.

For context, it was a TikTok about 3 fandoms within the Harry Potter one. Which are:

- harry potter itself aka golden trio

- marauders era

- Slytherin boys

To which I posted a comment on the TikTok.

[@Harry Potter Fan:

HP is canon

Marauders is fanon but act like canon and are filled with snaters yet somehow they refuse to believe that Snape basically built that fandom

Slytherin gang is just pure thirst]

I'm not lying. I just know that. Then this person said:

[@ChuuyasSlvttyWaistfanclub 👁🚦:Snape built the fandom??? Do he didn't, the fandom was built off of wolfstar]

Since then I've gone into a deep research on fanfiction.net, ao3 and archive.org

Imagine my bitter surprise when I saw more wolfstar fanfics in the 2000's than snupin. So I did some deeper research into this. I spent about my whole morning on this. All I got were reddit bs from the marauders fandom taking a crap and whatnot. Believe me, I used Google. Couldn't find a thing.

So I turned to look at chatgpt. I now more about the history of websites than I intended. Many of the fanfictions date don't even check out. There is litterally a wolfstar fanfic on ao3 that was made in 1950, it also has jegulus and indian James (that was basically booming last year). Many fanfics there are also dated back to 2002 and 2001, meanwhile ao3 exists in 2008.

(also, no hate to the author's that mixed up the dates. Maybe they thought the date was meant as a setting in which time period their story plays at, I also saw one of 1984.)

So I found it unreliable to search based on fanfictions when authors could change the dates. Then I turned to livejournal as chatgpt offered. That is a hot mess. Maybe it's because I am new but I have no idea how that works. So I landed on 2 answers.

Answer 1: wolfstar and snupin equally gained the same popularity. So neither snupin nor wolfstar began first or built the fandom.

Answer 2: according to chatgpt. It was snupin that raged with it's popularity between 2003 and 207. The pictures posted below, explain it well. But in short. Snupin was popular on other platforms that many fans do NOT use anymore nowadays. After 2010, ships excluding Snape like jily and wolfstar then many many more took the wheel and veered that maraudersfandom into the hotpot we know as today. The fandom that excuses death eaters, but not Snape.

That was the cause of ao3 and Tumblr. I believe even the wolfstar fanfics of back then we're more likeable and nicer than the ones we have today where they yank out all character traits of the characters and call it a day.

I hope this helps. So you either settle with snupin or nothing, your choice really. 😂. So fuck that comment with a too long name. I choose snupin.

Also, believe me when I say, I truly did try to search for other methods. I spent my entire morning on getting to the bottom of this but there simply were no other leads left. So as a measure against AI favoritism. I will borrow another phone, of my sister who is not a maraudersfan at all, and my mom's phone who doesn't even know what a harry potter is. Then go to chat gpt, type in the same question and see those answers.

Now, as promised, I checked on multiple sources to not base it on preference. My sister isn't even into harry Potter a lot, but into lord of the rings. About 5 years ago she was into the fandom but by then chat gpt doesn't exist. Fairly obvious she has no clue what marauders even is. This is what her chat gpt says:

This is the link to what my mom her chat gpt says:

#snupin #harry potter #severus snape #anti snaters #snater bullshit #pro snape #remus lupin

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aidenzhouappreciationweek · 10 months ago

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Welcome! To Aiden Zhou Appreciation Week!

This is the official blog for the appreciation week for the amazing Aiden Zhou, from the High School Story trilogy on Choices: Stories You Play!

This year's event will be taking place over October 9, 2024 - October 15, 2024. But we will continue accepting submissions for the 2024 Prompts until August 1, 2025, which is when the new prompts will be announced.

Aiden Zhou Appreication Week 2024: Prompts List

Day 1 (October 9): Music Man Aiden

Day 2 (October 10): Fashion/Design + Beauty + Flowers

Day 3 (October 11): Relationships: Romance, Friendships, Family

Day 4 (October 12): Free Prompt! (also the day I headcanon as Aiden’s birthday)

Day 5 (October 13): Cunty Aiden + Cutie Aiden + Weather/Seasons

Day 6 (October 14): AU + Crossover

Day 7 (October 15): Pride + Culture/Ethnicity/Heritage + Colors

Feel free to suggest your own possible prompt ideas for future years’ events, btw!

See below for the submission guidelines and (eventually) previous years' masterlists!

General Guidelines for Submission:

We’ll reblog pretty much any posts that are Aiden-centric and Aiden-appreciative/positive, whether or not it’s made for this event. But if you want your post to be considered a submission and listed on the masterlist, you must A) mention this blog and B) specify which prompt or prompts you’re submitting for.

The tags #AidenZhouAppreciationWeek, #AZAW, #AZAW2024, are highly recommended, but not necessary.

If your post is very long in length (eg. if it’s a long fic, has images that take up a lot of length), we highly recommend putting a “Read More” button in your post.

Any submissions that lean into NSFW or suggestive territory, and/or feature sensitive topics should be tagged accordingly.

You don’t have to create for each prompt or each day. Create for as many prompts and days as you like.

You don’t have to create for a prompt on its respective assigned day. Eg. You can create for a Day 1 prompt on Day 4.

You don’t have to create only one piece per prompt. If you have multiple pieces you want to create for a certain prompt, then by all means, go for it.

You don’t have to use only a specific day’s prompts together Eg. You can have a piece that uses a Day 1 prompt and a Day 4 prompt together.

We will still accept submissions even after the event dates have passed. You will have until the next year’s August 1 to submit posts/creations for the current prompts! Eg. For the AZAW 2024 prompts, you will be able to submit for them until August 1, 2025.

What IS welcome:

Any medium of human creation. Art, fanfic, poetry, edits, animation, picrews/meikers* moodboards/stimboards/gifboards, icons, memes/shitposts, gifs, AMVs, playlists, headcanons, character recreation in another game (eg. The Sims), etc!

Meta posts. Eg. screenshots of favorite scenes/moments from the Choices game itself, essay/analytical writing, even just simply gushing/rambling over Aiden nonstop!

Pieces or posts that you made prior to this event and/or initially not for this event, but you've decided you want to submit them!

WIP/unfinished pieces.

Submissions can be works that you have made yourself, or works that you have commissioned from someone else.

*If you’re submitting a picrew or meiker piece or anything similar, please link to the template in your post!

What is NOT welcome:

Bigotry of any kind. Posts of a nature that is sexist, racist (especially Sinophobic), queerphobic, ableist, xenophobic, etc. are obviously not allowed.

AI-generated material of any kind. This includes images or writing made by genAI, ChatGPT/character.AI screenshots, etc. Feel free to let us know if we accidentally promote AI generated material. We support human creators here!

Just don’t be a dick, tbh.

Previous Years’ Masterlists

[Will be linked here]

#aiden zhou #playchoices #choices stories you play #pixelberry #choices stories we play fandom #choicesstoriesyouplay #hss aiden #high school story aiden #AidenZhouAppreciationWeek #AZAW #AZAW2024

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hayatheauthor · 2 years ago

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting a Compelling Storyline

I'll warn you, this is a long one. I kind of took 'comprehensive guide' a little too seriously.

You have a fantastic concept burning at the edges of your imagination, a collection of characters whispering their stories to you, and a world just waiting to be explored. But how do you weave all these elements into a story that grips readers and refuses to let go? The answer lies in effective plot planning.

A well-crafted plot isn't just a sequence of events; it's a carefully orchestrated symphony that takes readers on an unforgettable ride. Whether you're an experienced writer or someone trying to start their first book, here are my personal steps to crafting a compelling storyline with good plot planning.

Step 1: Idea Generation and Conceptualization

Every great story begins with a spark of inspiration. It's that moment when an idea ignites in your mind and beckons you to explore its potential. The journey from a fleeting thought to a fully-fledged concept is an exhilarating one, and it all starts with idea generation and conceptualization.

Techniques for Idea Generation

Mind Mapping

Grab a piece of paper or use a digital tool to create a mind map. Write your central idea in the middle and branch out with related concepts, characters, themes, and settings. Mind mapping can help you visualize the connections and possibilities within your idea.

Bullet journalling

Bullet journalling is my personal favourite way to generate ideas for your WIP. Get a piece of paper or open a Word/Docs document and create three different sections: world, characters, and plot. Now add facts to each of those sections that you've come up with so far.

You can even go a step ahead and create more detailed sections, for example, you could do this for your different characters or different places in your world. Usually, one bullet point leads to the next and once you have an idea of everything you've already established you'll naturally start adding more to it.

Blurting

Talk to someone about your WIP, or pretend that you're talking to someone and write down everything that comes to mind. You can even use AI tools like ChatGPT and ask it to hold a conversation with you about your WIP. Tell it to ask you questions along the way, this will get the wheels turning and even help fill plot holes.

Prompts and Challenges

Explore writing prompts or challenges to spark your creativity. Websites, books, or even random word generators can provide the nudge you need to generate fresh ideas.

Refining Your Concept

Once you have a collection of ideas, it's time to refine and shape them into a cohesive concept.

Identify Themes

What themes or messages do you want to convey through your story? Is it a tale of redemption, the power of friendship, or the consequences of ambition? Pinpointing your core themes will guide your storytelling and also give you a clear image of the end goal.

Find Your Angle

Consider what makes your idea unique. How can you approach a familiar concept from a fresh perspective? For example, if you're doing a classic murder mystery, what makes your book different from others? Take some time to look up titles similar to your WIP and find any repetitive themes/patterns.

Maybe most murder mysteries end with the partner being the killer, or maybe the fantasy books written in the same mythology as your WIP's all involve a war. Knowing what is currently a popular trend in the market can give you a clear idea of where you can be different from comparable titles. This is especially important for genres like horror and romance.

Develop a Premise

Your premise is the foundation of your story. It's the "what if?" question that drives your narrative. For instance, "What if an ordinary high school student discovers they have the ability to control time?" You need to have a solid premise before you even think about writing your story.

Step 2: Character Development and Motivation

Characters are the beating heart of your story, and crafting them with depth and authenticity is key to creating a narrative that truly captivates. Your characters often leave more of a lasting impact on your readers than the plot itself.

Think of it this way: a good plot will get you readers, but memorable characters will get you fans. Some of the largest communities in the book space all run on the readers' fondness for certain characters rather than the story itself. Yes, your story and the way you tell it is very important, but nobody wants to listen to the story of a boring person.

Bringing Characters to Life

Personal Histories

Delve into your characters' pasts. What experiences shaped them into who they are today? A traumatic childhood or a life-changing event can influence their motivations and behaviours. Maybe your antagonist has a soft spot for single parents because their mother was the only person who cared for them. Maybe the love interest seems like a sunshine character because they feel the need to always seem put-together and perfect.

Physical Traits

This might sound obvious enough, after all a character's appearance is the first thing people think of when visualising, however, many authors fail to have a clear image of their character's physical traits which can lead to inconsistent or boring descriptions. Sure, your protagonist can have bushy hair and brown eyes, but what else?

Think about their body type, height, fashion sense, the way they carry themselves, walk, and sound. Do they have a random mole at the back of their neck? Do they always smell like a certain perfume because their dead father gifted it to them? It's important for you to have a clear image of who you're writing.

Strengths and Flaws

Just like real people, characters have strengths and weaknesses. These traits affect their decisions and interactions. A courageous hero might also struggle with recklessness, adding complexity to their personality. It's easy to create 2D characters by using tropes or shallow descriptions 'an all-powerful villain' 'the chosen one who trained their whole life and is perfect', but 3D characters are what will actually catch your readers' attention.

There's a reason why people often love the grey characters, the anti-heroes or anti-villains. Those who have complex personalities that make them seem human. This makes us empathise with the characters, and as a writer, it also helps you think of your characters as real people with flaws and problems.

Motivations: The Why Behind the What

Goals and Desires

What do your characters want? Their goals drive the plot forward. A detective's desire to solve a mystery or a scientist's quest for a groundbreaking discovery sets the narrative in motion. Why is your protagonist doing what they are doing?

You could simply give yourself a generic answer like 'they want to save the people' or 'they're a good person' but this can lead to confusion in the long run. If as the writer you yourself can't understand your character's goals it will get very hard to showcase them to your readers. Try to pick apart each character and genuinely consider why they are the way they are.

Inner Conflicts

Characters often grapple with inner turmoil – the clash between their desires, values, and fears. This inner conflict adds layers of intrigue and reliability. Maybe your protagonist realises the antagonist's qualms with the government are actually valid and suffers from moral conflicts as they contemplate whether or not they are the 'good guy'. Inner conflict adds dimension to your characters which in turn makes it easier for your readers to empathise with them.

Step 3: Outlining the Key Plot Points

Now that you have a clear idea of what you want to write and who you want to write it with, it's time to consider the how. You have a story, but how do you want to tell it? Break down the key plot points that shape your narrative, creating a roadmap that guides your characters through their trials and triumphs.

The Building Blocks of Plot

The Inciting Incident

The spark that ignites your story. It's the moment when your protagonist's world is disrupted, setting them on a path of change. For example, in "The Hunger Games," Katniss Everdeen's sister being chosen for the Games is the inciting incident that propels her into the arena.

This can be a little harder to recognise in genres outside of SFF and horror. For a thriller novel, this moment could be the moment your protagonist uncovers a sketchy detail in their relative's death. In romance, it could be the moment your protagonist is introduced to the love interest.

Turning Points

These are pivotal moments that shift the course of your narrative. They introduce new challenges, reveal secrets, or force characters to make crucial decisions. Think of them as the gears that keep your story machine turning. It's important to have some sort of turning point in your story to keep things interesting.

Maybe the character your protagonist was suspecting throughout the first half of the book ends up having a solid alibi, or a seemingly innocent character suddenly seems sketchy.

The Climax

The peak of tension and conflict. It's the moment your characters face their biggest challenge and must make their ultimate choice. In "The Lord of the Rings," the climactic battle at Mount Doom decides the fate of Middle-earth. In a murder mystery, this can be the moment the real killer is unveiled, or in a rom-com, it could be when the love interest moves to a new city to follow the protagonist.

Falling Action and Resolution

As your story winds down, the falling action ties up loose ends and provides closure. Readers witness the aftermath of the climax, and the characters' arcs find resolution. This is the bit where you make sure you aren't leaving any plot holes behind. Remember that random character your protagonist suspected at the start of the book? What's their alibi, why did they suddenly get out of the picture?

Structuring Plot Points

Introduction of Stakes

Introduce what your characters stand to gain or lose early on. This creates a sense of urgency that propels them forward. What if your protagonist fails to complete their missions? What if the detective never unveils the killer's identity? What if your protagonist doesn't win over the love interest? Show your readers the worst possible outcome early on so they know why they should be rooting for your protagonist.

This doesn't necessarily have to be something big or scary. In Harry Potter, many of us wanted Harry to stay at Hogwarts because his life with the Dursleys was cruel and he deserved happiness. That was a small yet significant stake that made the readers empathetic and silently root for Harry.

Foreshadowing and Setup

Plant seeds of future events throughout your story. Foreshadowing builds anticipation and adds depth, making later plot developments more satisfying. I have written a lot of blogs that either cover or briefly mention foreshadowing so I'm going to keep this point a little short.

Foreshadowing helps your readers slowly piece everything together and have that 'I knew it!' or 'how did I not see this coming?' moment. It might also encourage them to turn back and reread your work to focus on the little hints you left throughout the book. Foreshadowing is especially important in murder mysteries.

Step 4: Subplots and Secondary Storylines

Subplots and secondary storylines are the secret ingredients that transform a good story into an unforgettable masterpiece. They add layers of intrigue, provide character development opportunities, and keep readers eagerly turning pages. If you're confused about what is a subplot and how to create one you can visit my previous blog that focuses on this topic.

The Role of Subplots

Enriching Character Arcs

Subplots allow secondary characters to shine. They can showcase different facets of your characters' personalities, revealing their strengths, weaknesses, growth, and relationships.

Theme Reinforcement

Subplots can explore and reinforce your story's themes from various angles. For instance, a romantic subplot can underscore the theme of love and sacrifice, in turn making your protagonist’s heroic death at the end of the novel seem more impactful. We all know Pepper’s reaction to Tony’s death in End Game made the moment more emotional.

While creating subplots and considering which one might be relevant to your book you should think of how this subplot would impact your end goal and whether it would help emotionally connect with your readers.

Parallel Journeys

Subplots can create parallel journeys that mirror or contrast with the main plot. This dynamic adds depth and resonance to your storytelling. Maybe the antagonist’s assistant has a similar backstory to your protagonist but while the protagonist was rescued by the government they were taken in by the antagonist. As the two geniuses face each other your protagonist can’t help but consider whether they would still be fighting for the ‘good’ side had their roles been switched.

Balancing The Main Plot and Subplots

Interconnectedness

Subplots shouldn't feel disconnected from the main plot. Instead, they should interact and influence each other, creating a harmonious narrative flow. Your subplot could help bring a satisfactory end to a certain arc of your story, or it could sow the roots for the important climactic moment of your book.

Pacing and Tension

Strategically introduce subplots to maintain pacing and tension. They can provide moments of relief or heightened drama, enhancing the overall reading experience.

Character Integration

Ensure that characters involved in subplots maintain relevance to the main plot. Their actions and decisions should contribute to the overarching story, even as they pursue their own paths. You should also think about whether or not your character is overshadowing the protagonist. In Harry Potter there were several characters such as Ginny, Luna and Neville with subplots and backstories of their own, however, they never overshadowed Harry’s tale.

Step 5: Crafting Scenes and Sequences

Welcome to the realm where the magic truly comes to life – crafting scenes that resonate, captivate, and propel your story forward. Scenes are the building blocks of your narrative, each one a window into your characters' world and emotions. They help infuse your story with tension, emotion, and unforgettable moments.

Again, this is a topic I’ve covered separately in another blog so I won’t go into too much detail here.

Scene Structure and Elements

Objective and Conflict

Every scene should have a purpose – a clear objective that drives the characters. Introduce conflict that challenges their goals and motivations, creating tension that keeps readers engaged.

Emotion and Stakes

Characters' emotions are the heartbeats of scenes. Amplify emotions by highlighting what's at stake for the characters. Whether it's a heated argument or a tender moment, emotions draw readers in.

Sequences: Crafting a Flow

Cause and Effect

Scenes connect through cause and effect. Each scene's outcome sets the stage for the next, creating a seamless flow that propels the narrative. A character's choice in one scene can reverberate and shape subsequent events.

Rising Action

Craft sequences with escalating tension. The stakes should intensify, drawing characters deeper into challenges and dilemmas. This creates a sense of anticipation that keeps readers eagerly turning pages.

Step 6: Mapping the Journey: Creating a Visual Plot Outline

Visualising your plot, characters, and world can be very hard sometimes. Let's be honest, words can only do so much and if you don't have a clear idea of what you want to show your readers you can end up going down a path of 'telling' them everything. This can take away from the point of your story and end up boring your readers. If you find it hard to visualise where you're going with your book, here are some tips that can help.

Visual Tools for Plot Planning

Timelines and Flowcharts

Create a timeline that outlines the sequence of major events, from inciting incidents to resolution. Flowcharts visually depict the interconnectedness of plot points, making it easy to track the evolution of your story. You can also cut out or add bits depending on how far along you are. This will also help you keep track of what scene/development should be introduced when and why.

Index Cards or Post-Its

Write down key scenes, plot developments, and character arcs on individual index cards or sticky notes. Arrange and rearrange them on a board or wall to visualize the narrative's flow. You can also do this if you're confused about the climax of your novel by adding different ideas to the post-its and putting them alongside the rest of the book's plot to see what things would look like from a reader's perspective.

Infusing Creativity

Playlists

Curate a playlist that captures the mood and emotions of your story. Music has the power to transport you to the heart of your narrative, helping you channel the right atmosphere while plotting. You can listen to this playlist every time you sit down to write WIP. With time, this will also help you overcome writer’s block since you can put on this playlist every time you struggle to get into the right writing mindset.

Moodboards/Pinterest Boards

Create a visual feast by collecting images, aesthetics, and visuals that embody your story's essence. Platforms like Pinterest allow you to craft moodboards that serve as visual touchstones. I would recommend creating a separate pinboard for every character so you can get a clear idea of their vibe and appearance. You can even refer to these every time you're writing about or from the perspective of a new character.

Step 7: Flexibility and Adaptability

As you embark on your writing journey, remember that stories have a life of their own. Embracing flexibility and adaptability is your compass through uncharted territories.

Allow characters to surprise you, let plots pivot, and themes emerge. Balancing structure with spontaneity ensures a dynamic narrative that resonates deeply. Listen to your characters, explore ethical complexities, and evolve alongside your story.

By staying open to the unexpected, you infuse your writing with authenticity and richness. Your plot outline is a guide, but your characters and themes have the power to shape the course. Embrace the unpredictable, and watch your story flourish beyond your imagination.

I hope this blog on A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting a Compelling Storyline will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and publishing tips for authors every Monday and Thursday! And don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey!

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sempermoi · 8 months ago

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Rant about generative AI in education and in general under the cut because I'm worried and frustrated and I needed to write it out in a small essay:

So, context: I am a teacher in Belgium, Flanders. I am now teaching English (as a second language), but have also taught history and Dutch (as a native language). All in secondary education, ages 12-16.

More and more I see educational experts endorse ai being used in education and of course the most used tools are the free, generative ones. Today, one of the colleagues responsible for the IT of my school went to an educational lecture where they once again vouched for the use of ai.

Now their keyword is that it should always be used in a responsible manner, but the issue is... can it be?

1. Environmentally speaking, ai has been a nightmare. Not only does it have an alarming impact on emission levels, but also on the toxic waste that's left behind. Not to mention the scarcity of GPUs caused by the surge of ai in the past few years. Even sources that would vouch for ai have raised concerns about the impact it has on our collective health. sources: here, here and here

2. Then there's the issue with what the tools are trained on and this in multiple ways:

Many of the free tools that the public uses is trained on content available across the internet. However, it is at this point common knowledge (I'd hope) that most creators of the original content (writers, artists, other creative content creators, researchers, etc.) were never asked for permission and so it has all been stolen. Many social media platforms will often allow ai training on them without explicitly telling the user-base or will push it as the default setting and make it difficult for their user-base to opt out. Deviantart, for example, lost much of its reputation when it implemented such a policy. It had to backtrack in 2022 afterwards because of the overwhelming backlash. The problem is then that since the content has been ripped from their context and no longer made by a human, many governments therefore can no longer see it as copyrighted. Which, yes, luckily also means that ai users are legally often not allowed to pass off ai as 'their own creation'. Sources: here, here

Then there's the working of generative ai in general. As said before, it simply rips words or image parts from their original, nuanced context and then mesh it together without the user being able to accurately trace back where the info is coming from. A tool like ChatGPT is not a search engine, yet many people use it that way without realising it is not the same thing at all. More on the working of generative ai in detail. Because of how it works, it means there is always a chance for things to be biased and/or inaccurate. If a tool has been trained on social media sources (which ChatGPT for example is) then its responses can easily be skewed to the demographic it's been observing. Bias is an issue is most sources when doing research, but if you have the original source you also have the context of the source. Ai makes it that the original context is no longer clear to the user and so bias can be overlooked and go unnoticed much easier. Source: here

3. Something my colleague mentioned they said in the lecture is that ai tools can be used to help the learning of the students.

Let me start off by saying that I can understand why there is an appeal to ai when you do not know much about the issues I have already mentioned. I am very aware it is probably too late to fully stop the wave of ai tools being published.

There are certain uses to types of ai that can indeed help with accessibility. Such as text-to-voice or the other way around for people with disabilities (let's hope the voice was ethically begotten).

But many of the other uses mentioned in the lecture I have concerns with. They are to do with recognising learning, studying and wellbeing patterns of students. Not only do I not think it is really possible to data-fy the complexity of each and every single student you would have as they are still actively developing as a young person, this also poses privacy risks in case the data is ever compromised. Not to mention that ai is often still faulty and, as it is not a person, will often still make mistakes when faced with how unpredictable a human brain can be. We do not all follow predictable patterns.

The lecture stated that ai tools could help with neurodivergency 'issues'. Obviously I do not speak for others and this next part is purely personal opinion, but I do think it important to nuance this: as someone with auDHD, no ai-tool has been able to help me with my executive dysfunction in the long-term. At first, there is the novelty of the app or tool and I am very motivated. They are often in the form of over-elaborate to-do lists with scheduled alarms. And then the issue arises: the ai tries to train itself on my presented routine... except I don't have one. There is no routine to train itself on, because that is my very problem I am struggling with. Very quickly it always becomes clear that the ai doesn't understand this the way a human mind would. A professionally trained in psychology/therapy human mind. And all I was ever left with was the feeling of even more frustration.

In my opinion, what would help way more than any ai tool would be the funding of mental health care and making it that going to a therapist or psychiatrist or coach is covered by health care the way I only have to pay 5 euros to my doctor while my health care provider pays the rest. (In Belgium) This would make mental health care much more accessible and would have a greater impact than faulty ai tools.

4. It was also said that ai could help students with creative assignments and preparing for spoken interactions both in their native language as well as in the learning of a new one.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Creativity in its essence is about the person creating something from their own mind and putting the effort in to translate those ideas into their medium of choice. Stick figures on lined course paper are more creative than letting a tool like Midjourney generate an image based on stolen content. How are we teaching students to be creative when we allow them to not put a thought in what they want to say and let an ai do it for them?

And since many of these tools are also faulty and biased in their content, how could they accurately replace conversations with real people? Ai cannot fully understand the complexities of language and all the nuances of the contexts around it. Body language, word choice, tone, volume, regional differences, etc.

And as a language teacher, I can truly say there is nothing more frustrating than wanting to assess the writing level of my students, giving them a writing assignment where they need to express their opinion and write it in two tiny paragraphs... and getting an ai response back. Before anyone comes to me saying that my students may simply be very good at English. Indeed, but my current students are not. They are precious, but their English skills are very flawed. It is very easy to see when they wrote it or ChatGPT. It is not only frustrating to not being able to trust part of your students' honesty and knowing they learned nothing from the assignment cause you can't give any feedback; it is almost offensive that they think I wouldn't notice it.

5. Apparently, it was mentioned in the lecture that in schools where ai is banned currently, students are fearful that their jobs would be taken away by ai and that in schools where ai was allowed that students had much more positive interactions with technology.

First off, I was not able to see the source and data that this statement was based on. However, I personally cannot shake the feeling there's a data bias in there. Of course students will feel more positively towards ai if they're not told about all the concerns around it.

Secondly, the fact that in the lecture it was (reportedly) framed that being scared your job would disappear because of ai, was untrue is... infuriating. Because it already is becoming a reality. Let's not forget what partially caused the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023. Corporations see an easy (read: cheap) way to get marketable content by using ai at the cost of the creative professionals. Unregulated ai use by businesses causing the loss of jobs for real-life humans, is very much a threat. Dismissing this is basically lying to young students.

6. My conclusion:

I am frustrated. It's clamoured that we, as teachers, should educate more about ai and it's responsible use. However, at the same time the many concerns and issues around most of the accessible ai tools are swept under the rug and not actively talked about.

I find the constant surging rise of generative ai everywhere very concerning and I can only hope that more people will start seeing it too.

Thank you for reading.

#generative ai critical #ai critical #ai in education #the artist talks

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dustedmagazine · 13 days ago

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SUMAC & Moor Mother — The Film (Thrill Jockey)

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The Film is a counterintuitive name for a collaborative record from Moor Mother and SUMAC, bands that are as musically immediate and overwhelming as they are sonically complex. Sound is the medium, not the visual register intrinsic to film. But metaphorically speaking, there has always been a “cinematic” quality to the sounds generated by these creators: Moor Mother’s SF hellscapes and Afro-Futurist elsewheres, all of which compel visual imaginings even as they recede over horizons of possibility or empty into nightmare; the experimental colorings that insistently emerge from SUMAC’s improvisatory doom (see “Yellow Dawn” for a recent example) and the suggestions of ritual movement that run across their records’ capacious narratives. A record that invokes the apparatus and structure of film turns out to be suitable conceptual terrain for these formidably talented musicians to meet on.

And The Film asserts its filmic elements. Song titles include “Camera,” “Scene 2: The Run,” “Scene 5: Breathing Fire.” Even “The Truth Is out There” invokes visual narrative through its reference to The X Files (1993-2002), the charmingly harebrained television series that made FBI agents sort of sympathetic (it helps to have Gillian Anderson frequently in the frame). The Film has no such illusions about Executive Branch powers. Early in “Scene 1,” the record’s first track, Camae Ayewa asserts, “I want my breath back.” The clause makes its own allusion, to the last words of Eric Garner, choked out and murdered by the NYC cops. A little later in the song, Ayewa snarls, “You didn’t demand more from a democracy of monsters / They told you to turn down that music or they’ll shoot you,” which sounds like a reference to Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old black kid murdered in a Florida parking lot for playing rap too loud; just before shooting Davis, Michael David Dunn, a 45-year-old white man, told his girlfriend, “I hate that thug music.”

The musicians respond to that miasma of hate by playing very, very loudly. “Scene 3” concentrates SUMAC’s capacity to coordinate doomy textures into a slow crawl. The band incrementally increases the atmosphere of dread as Ayewa moves her lyrics into images wrought with the force of her own rage and disgust (“America pissed and shit itself, no diaper / Obituaries and death don’t need no writer”). The accumulated intensity is visceral; you know a break is coming, and you want it even if you sort of fear its shattering, deafening blast.

Moor Mother and SUMAC are all adept improvisers, uncannily able to gather impulses and sounds that verge on chaos into aesthetic forms that feel saturated with meaning and intent. That’s an intrinsically human ability. The Film summons, with nearly apocalyptic dread, the contrasting sound of the machine on one of its most forceful tracks, “Camera”; a mechanical voice intones, “I am a smart fellow, as I have a very fine brain of 48 electrical relays.” Is that you, ChatGPT? Actually, it’s Elektro, the robot Westinghouse engineered for the New York World’s Fair in 1939. A year to conjure with: Europe and China in flames, fascism ascendant, the machines advancing amid relentless slaughter. The song descends into some of the most intense dissonance that Aaron Turner, Brian Cook and Nick Yacyshyn generate anywhere on the record.

Something like order comes back into focus ten minutes later, in “Scene 5: Breathing Fire,” as Ayewa asserts, “We had meaning / We had meaning.” The emphasis on that last word is as consoling as the past tense Ayewa uses is chilling. Through the first four minutes of the lengthy composition (“Scene 5: Breathing Fire” is the longest track on the record, at over 16 minutes), Ayewa unleashes breathless strings of lyric complexity as the band plays with powerful stop-start, doomily disjunct precision. Just after the four-minute mark, the song breaks through — the film is penetrated. The music is all onrushing thrill, Ayewa’s voice surges and snarls, “Take off running / Take off running.” She urges and inveighs. She breathes poetical fire, in answer to Garner’s cry of mortal agony. The song suggests that we all need to break through the film; just sitting back and watching is inadequate to our moment. And if we do? Take off running. The machines, the fascists and their various minions are already here.

Jonathan Shaw

#sumac #moor mother #the film #thrill jockey #jonathan shaw #albumreview #dusted magazine #jazz #doom metal #improvisation

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