Author: Mike

Hello, my name is Mike Jackson. If you have any comments about the post you have just read I'd love to read them.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Happy New Year

Posted on by Mike

Happy New Year to You All.

A new year always feels less like a starting gun and more like a quiet clearing of the throat. No grand resolutions here. Just curiosity, small experiments, and the gentle joy of learning something new, even if it wobbles a bit on the way out.

Here’s to asking better questions, playing with ideas, and discovering that it’s never too late to begin again.

See you on the path ahead.

About The AI Grandad

Find out more about The AI Grandad on:
YouTube – The AI Grandad
X – The AI Grandad
Facebook – Mike Jackson – The AI Grandad

What do you think AI creativity tells us about ourselves?
Share your thoughts in the comments, I love hearing from curious minds!

A friendly-but-weird AI robot made of letters and punctuation holding a tiny 100-word story.
Posted in The AI Drabble Challenge

The AI Drabble Challenge – Week #11: The Vending Machine

Posted on by Mike

Welcome to This Week’s AI Drabble Challenge

Welcome back to our weekly playground for curious humans and equally curious machines. Every Wednesday I share a new prompt, and together we explore what happens when we let AI join in the storytelling.

A Drabble is simply a story told in 100 words exactly, short enough to be playful, long enough to surprise us. You’re welcome to use any AI tool you like: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, NotebookLM… whatever you’re comfortable with. How you collaborate is up to you. Maybe the AI drafts the first version, or writes the whole thing, maybe you co-write, or maybe you use it to spark ideas. What matters is the process, and sharing it.

There’s no pressure, no “right way,” and definitely no grading. The goal is curiosity, collaboration, and seeing what strange or wonderful things the machines produce when we give them a nudge.

This Week’s Prompt

This week I thought I would continue with the theme of trying something different. I’m always intrigued as to how AI copes when asked unusual questions (have a read of The Prompt Experiment to see an example of this).

So, today’s prompt is to write a Drabble based on ‘The Voices in the Vending Machine‘

A vending machine starts giving out items the protagonist didn’t select, a child’s shoe, a house key that fits nothing, a handwritten list of fears. Each item seems to know them a little too well.

Feel free to interpret the prompt literally, loosely, mischievously, or in a way that makes your AI scratch its synthetic head. If it surprises you, it counts.

Example Drabble – ‘The Vending Machine’

I used ChatGPT 5.2 and the prompt was – “Write a 100 word story where a vending machine starts giving out items the protagonist didn’t select, a child’s shoe, a house key that fits nothing, a handwritten list of fears. Each item seems to know them a little too well.“

The Vending Machine

The vending machine whined like it recognised me. I pressed for crisps; it dropped a small child’s shoe, warm. Next, a house key clattered out, teeth worn smooth by doors I’d never owned. A handwritten list followed, folded tight, ink smudged with my fears: drowning, failing, being forgotten. The glass reflected my face, older than yesterday. Coins rattled inside, laughing. I tried cancel. The machine hummed my name. One last item slid free: a receipt dated tomorrow, itemised with choices I hadn’t made yet. I walked away lighter, missing something essential. Behind me, the lights blinked approval without asking permission.

How to Take Part

Joining in is wonderfully simple:

  1. Choose any AI tool you like.
  2. Ask it to write a 100-word Drabble using this week’s prompt.
  3. Edit it if you want… or don’t. Imperfect is perfect.
  4. Post your Drabble in the comments or publish it on your own blog and send a pingback.

If you’d like to share:

  • which AI you used
  • the prompt you gave it
  • or a bit about your process

…that’s always appreciated and often helpful to others.

Community & Highlights

Each week I read every entry and spotlight a few that stood out, for cleverness, unexpected emotion, inventive prompting, or pure joyful weirdness. This isn’t a competition. It’s a conversation between humans, machines, and the imagination that connects us.

A Closing Thought

AI can generate the words, but only you bring the spark. So… how will you and your AI partner interpret the prompt this week?

Your Turn!

Now it’s over to you, can you craft your own 100-word Drabble inspired by this week’s prompt.

Post your story in the comments below or link to your own blog, I love seeing the imaginative twists readers come up with. So don’t be shy, join in and show us what your AI + Your Imagination can do!

New to the challenge? Visit The AI Drabbles Challenge Page for all the details and past prompts.

A softly lit writing desk at dusk with an open notebook, a pen, and a mug of tea. A handwritten card on the desk reads “I Asked AI What It Thought I Was Doing This Year,” creating a reflective, quiet atmosphere.
Posted in AI and Creativity

I Asked AI What It Thought I Was Doing This Year

Posted on by Mike

As the year began to wind down, I found myself doing what I seem to do most often these days. I asked a question without being entirely sure what I wanted the answer to be.

I gave an AI a short description of this blog, the stories, the images, the experiments, the tone, and the way I tend to circle ideas rather than pin them down. Then I asked it one simple thing. “What do you think The AI Grandad has really been doing this year?”

I did not correct it. I did not steer it. I did not interrupt. This is what it said.

Continue reading “I Asked AI What It Thought I Was Doing This Year” →
A humorous, Tim Burton-style blue monster with tentacle-like hair, uneven eyes, sharp teeth, and long fingers. It stands on two legs and looks directly at the viewer while a speech bubble says “Give me a caption.”
Posted in AI and Creativity

Caption This AI Image #4 – What’s Left When the Reflection Breaks?

Posted on by Mike

This image stopped me longer than most. Not because it was dramatic. Not because it shouted for attention. But because it felt… exposed. As though I’d stumbled across something that wasn’t meant to be seen all at once. A face, fractured. A reflection, broken. Still looking back.

I won’t tell you what I think it means. That would pin it down too neatly. Instead, I’ll let you sit with it for a moment.

Continue reading “Caption This AI Image #4 – What’s Left When the Reflection Breaks?” →
A weary, grumpy Santa Claus sits amid a battered sleigh and scattered Christmas lists, clutching a mug of strong tea and a crumpled Naughty and Nice list, snow falling around him as the chaotic aftermath of Christmas night surrounds the scene.
Posted in AI and Creativity

It’s All Over For Another Year

Posted on by Mike

A short message from Father Christmas on how his busiest night of the year went.

I’m Thinking of Retiring

Grumpy? I’ve moved beyond grumpy. I’m operating on a level best described as “festively furious”.

Christmas Day morning. I’m sat here with a mug of tea strong enough to strip paint, staring at a sleigh that looks like it’s been through a minor war, and wondering when exactly this all became my responsibility. Magic, they say. Joy. Wonder. They don’t mention the paperwork, the weather, or the reindeer union.

Let’s start with the night itself. Absolute shambles. Snowstorms where there shouldn’t be snowstorms. Fog where fog has no business being. At one point I flew through something that might have been cloud, might have been someone’s experimental vape. Hard to tell these days. Rudolph’s nose flickered halfway over Kent. Flickered. I do not need mood lighting from the lead reindeer while dodging wind turbines.

Then there were the houses. Chimneys that are purely decorative. Who decided that was sensible? One was so narrow I had to breathe out, think thin thoughts, and apologise to my hips. Another had been sealed up “for energy efficiency”. Marvellous. I ended up crawling through a loft hatch like a confused burglar with a sack full of goodwill.

Children’s lists are getting bolder too. Used to be a toy car and a colouring book. Now it’s drones, phones, gaming consoles with specifications. Specifications! One lad included bullet points. Bullet points. I nearly left him a stapler.

And notes. Oh, the notes. “Please don’t forget us.” As if I’d pop all this effort in and then just skip one semi-detached in Scunthorpe out of spite. And the emotional ones. “Please make Dad happy again.” I’m a gift-giver, not a therapist. I do my best, but there are limits to what a jumper can achieve.

Technology nearly finished me off. Motion sensors everywhere. Alarms screaming. One house welcomed me with a cheerful voice saying, “You are not recognised.” Neither is your house, love, but here we are. Then there was that smart home in Milton Keynes. Everything’s voice-activated, isn’t it? I whisper “hello” to the family dog and suddenly every light in the house blazes on, the heating kicks to thirty degrees, and some robot vacuum starts chasing me round the kitchen like I’ve personally offended it. 

And don’t get me started on pets. Cats glaring like I owe them money. Dogs convinced I’m an intruder made of sausages. One parrot shouted, “He’s back!” repeatedly until I considered early retirement.

Still. It’s done now. Sack empty. List complete. The world’s waking up to ripped paper and surprise socks. I’m exhausted, aching, and frankly unimpressed. Next year I’m outsourcing. Or retiring. Or switching to vouchers.

Now if anyone needs me, I’ll be asleep, grumbling softly, until next December. And if I hear one more “Ho ho ho,” I swear I’ll switch to gift cards.

A Message From Me

I hope Christmas Day went well for you. If you didn’t drink too much, eat too much or have lots of fun, then you really weren’t trying! I spent the day keeping well away from my favourite AI rabbit holes.

About The AI Grandad

Find out more about The AI Grandad on:
YouTube – The AI Grandad
X – The AI Grandad
Facebook – Mike Jackson – The AI Grandad

What do you think AI creativity tells us about ourselves?
Share your thoughts in the comments, I love hearing from curious minds!