Tag: AI

A blurred reflection of an older man’s silhouette in a studio window, with a microphone visible, suggesting voice recording and quiet unease.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Writing, Emotion Tags, and a Voice That Sounds Like Me

Posted on by Mike

This post is part of an ongoing habit of trying small, contained experiments rather than grand declarations about what AI can or cannot do. In this case, the experiment was simple: could a short piece of writing be performed by an AI voice in a way that felt deliberate rather than mechanical?

I prompted ChatGPT to write a brief dystopian monologue and asked it to include emotional cues directly in the script. I then copied and pasted the text into ElevenLabs and generated the audio using a cloned version of my own voice. No editing, no post-production, no technical tinkering. Just text, instructions, and a voice.

What interested me wasn’t realism or polish, but interpretation.

Continue reading “Writing, Emotion Tags, and a Voice That Sounds Like Me” →
Posted in AI and Creativity

The Latest AI Image Generator From ChatGPT

Posted on by Mike

I don’t know about you but whenever something new and exciting appears on the AI scene I simply have to play with it. Yet again I found myself disappearing down that rabbit hole I talked about in my ver first post on The AI Grandad.

This time it was all to do with AI generated images. Today, ChatGPT released its latest AI generator and it is truly amazing. So, I thought I would share some of my first, simple experiments with it.

The AI Grandad

Because I chat with ChatGPT all the time it knows a lot about The AI Grandad blog and me. So, my first experiment was to prompt – ‘Create a doodle of The AI Grandad‘

Then I simply asked ChatGPT to ‘Turn it into a photo.’

Then the prompt was, ‘Turn the background into the interior of my shed with bookcases and a desk with a computer, have grandad sat at the desk.’

Notice how ChatGPT has kept the original design of The AI Grandad the same throughout. Impressive.

Playing With Text

AI image generators have always had a problem with text, or at least with text that made sense. For my next experiment the prompt was, ‘Put this short story on a single page of an open book, “Poetry is now a medical condition. Those who arrange words strangely are treated gently, sedated softly, corrected thoroughly. I keep a poem hidden in my mouth, repeating it silently so it doesn’t forget me first.” Include an appropriate sketch’

The short story was one I had recently posted on X.

I thought the sketch was great and I had said no more than ‘include an appropriate sketch’. GPT determined what this should look like.

I was intrigued as to just how ChatGPT would interpret messages, stories etc. My next experiment was to ask, ‘Create an image to go with this quote “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Include the quote at the bottom of the page. Portrait aspect.’

With the next prompt I was asking ChatGPT to do some research and create an image. ‘Create an image based on the poem Jabberwocky. Include the first verse.’

You can’t always rely on AI to be accurate. I checked the first verse of Jabberwocky and ChatGPT got it spot on.

Editing Images

This new AI image generator also does a great job of editing images. Either ones you upload or ones you create. I created this family photo taken in Times Square, New York.

Then I got ChatGPT to change the clothes and background for a Winter holiday.

…and the for an exciting holiday on a distant planet!

A Call To Thought

I’m off down my rabbit hole for more playful, creative experimenting. Why don’t you join me.

About The AI Grandad

Find out more about The AI Grandad on:
YouTube – The AI Grandad
X – 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!

An AI hand with a fountain pen nib on one finger writing a story.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Two Images, Two Captions, Two Stories

Posted on by Mike

In our first ‘Give This AI Image a Caption’, one of our readers, Valerie, responded with the caption for this image, ‘The Internet is Down’.

A surreal, Tim Burton-style illustration showing a nervous stick-figure person surrounded by four bizarre, wide-eyed monsters: a black spiky one, a red blobby one, and two blue creatures — one offering a steaming cup. All appear to be staring at the central figure.

The following week’s ‘Give This AI Image a Caption’ post contained this image and Kieran gave us the caption, ‘He Played For an Audience Long Gone’.

A young child in worn, old-fashioned clothing sits in a doorway of a crumbling building, gently playing an aged violin as soft light falls across them.

So, I decided to use both images and captions as prompts for ChatGPT. In both cases I asked for a 200-word story. Here are those stories:

Continue reading “Two Images, Two Captions, Two Stories” →
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

Give This AI Image a Caption #2 – The Song Only He Can Hear

Posted on by Mike

I was browsing through my AI images this week when I stumbled across this one, and it stopped me cold. There’s something achingly beautiful about it. Quiet. Tender. Almost ghostly. The sort of picture that feels like it already contains a story, if only we lean in close enough to hear it.

I won’t tell you what I see. That would get in the way. Instead, I’ll let you sit with it for a moment and see what it stirs in you.

Here it is.

A young child in worn, old-fashioned clothing sits in a doorway of a crumbling building, gently playing an aged violin as soft light falls across them.

The light, the dust, the decay, the expression… every element feels like it’s whispering something. Is this a moment of hope? Loneliness? Magic? Memory? Survival? A lullaby to the past or a plea to the future?

Whatever it is, it’s begging for words. And that’s where you come in.

Your Turn, Caption This Image

Give me your best caption in the comments. It can be:

  • wistful
  • poetic
  • mysterious
  • uplifting
  • heartbreaking
  • or something entirely unexpected

There’s no right or wrong way to interpret it, just your imagination meeting the image halfway.

Next week, I’ll share a selection of my favourite captions, and I might even try weaving one or two into a tiny story.

A Closing Thought

Every so often, an AI image arrives that feels less like a picture and more like a doorway. This one made me wonder about the power of quiet moments — the ones that happen when nobody’s watching, when the world falls away, and someone creates something just because they must.

So… what do you think this child is playing? And who, or what, is the music for?

About The AI Grandad

Find out more about The AI Grandad on:
YouTube – The AI Grandad
X – 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 digital clock face showing" 10:17." The background is dark and mysterious
Posted in AI and Creativity

How an Unusual Prompt Changed the Story Completely

Posted on by Mike

When people talk about AI writing, they often focus on what they ask it to do. Write a horror story. Write a cosy mystery. Write something in the style of a particular author. All perfectly reasonable requests.

But in my own experiments, I’ve found that the real shift happens when I stop giving AI sensible instructions and start giving it slightly awkward ones instead. Not genre. Not tone. A rule. A constraint that feels just a little unnatural. That’s when the writing stops drifting and starts making decisions.

This post is about one of those experiments.

Continue reading “How an Unusual Prompt Changed the Story Completely” →