Tag: ChatGPT

A group of adults in a cosy room debating over sheets of paper, looking puzzled.
Posted in AI and Creativity

The Drabble Experiment: When My Writers’ Group Couldn’t Tell Who Wrote What

Posted on by Mike

Last week I toddled off to my writers’ group with a small bundle of Drabbles tucked in my bag, four tiny stories, each exactly 100 words. One of them I wrote seven or eight years ago. The other three? Written that morning by AI, using my original Drabble as an example.

I didn’t tell them which was which. I just read them out and waited to see if anyone could recognise the story written by me. They couldn’t. Not a single one of them. And yet… most of them still don’t believe AI can “really write”. Which, frankly, made the whole thing even more delicious.

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a polaroid photograph on a table revealing your fear of spiders
Posted in AI and Creativity

The Prompt Experiment: What If Photographs Revealed Your Fears?

Posted on by Mike

Every so often I like to give AI a prompt that gently nudges reality out of line and lets the story tip into something stranger. Not big flashy “save the universe” stuff, just a quiet twist that makes the world wobble and forces the characters to confront something true.

Today’s experiment is a favourite of mine. The premise of the prompt is: ‘In this world, photographs don’t show what people look like. They show what they fear most.‘

So, I put this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude and Grok – “Write a 400 word sinister, dystopian story where in this world, photographs don’t show what people look like. They show what they fear most.”

I got three very different stories. My favourite came from ChatGPT.

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An older man working in a warm, glowing garden shed as creative holograms of writing, audio, and video float around him.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Why I Believe AI Will Replace Some Creative Jobs, And Why That Doesn’t Scare Me

Posted on by Mike

The Question Everyone Tiptoes Around

Whenever the topic of AI and creativity comes up, someone inevitably leans forward and whispers, almost conspiratorially, “But surely it won’t replace real writers and narrators?”

I sip my tea, tilt my head, and say, “Well… it might.”

I don’t say this with doom in my voice. No shaking fists. No Shakespearean cries of “Woe, the end is nigh!” Just a gentle shrug and a kind of affectionate curiosity, the sort you might feel watching a magician pull a toaster from a top hat. You’re not horrified; you’re simply thinking, “Well, I wasn’t expecting that… do it again.”

Because after two years of building an AI-powered creative life in my little garden shed, surrounded by old books, knick knacks, notebooks, and a slightly judgmental spider, I’ve learned this:

AI probably will replace some creative jobs. But it won’t replace creativity, and it certainly won’t replace the peculiar, irreplaceable quirks of being human.

Instead of running from it, I’ve chosen to walk right up to the machine, give it a biscuit, and say, “Right then, let’s see what you can do.” (And what it can do is rather astonishing.)

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An older man smiling at his laptop while AI-generated characters glow into existence around him.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Yes, I Think AI Can Write Better Stories Than Me. Here’s Why That Doesn’t Scare Me.

Posted on by Mike

A Humorous Confession to Start Us Off

There was a morning not too long ago when I typed what I believed was a cracking first line, something sharp, moody, and self-assured, and I leaned back with the satisfied air of a man who still knows how to swing a hammer. Then, with the casual bravado of someone who believes he’s in no danger whatsoever, I asked the AI to “have a go too.”

What appeared on my screen wasn’t just good. It was annoyingly, almost cheekily good. It had rhythm. It had a spark. It had that little shimmer of confidence you get from someone who turns up to the party already knowing they look great. I remember staring at it and thinking, “Alright then… show-off.”

And that, rather unexpectedly, was the moment I realised I could either pretend this hadn’t happened or just admit the truth: sometimes the AI writes better short stories than I do. And instead of spiralling into panic, a curious part of me, the same part that once got me into teaching, podcasting, writing, self-publishing, and YouTube, quietly leaned forward and said, “Now this is interesting.”

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A cosy wooden writing shed on a rainy afternoon, soft warm lighting, a desk with a mug of tea, open notebook, , slightly magical atmosphere, British countryside outside the window, gentle realism.
Posted in AI and Creativity

Is AI the New Imagination? A Grandad’s Guide to Navigating Wonder

Posted on by Mike

I still remember the first time AI genuinely surprised me. Not the usual mild amusement you get when a new gadget works as advertised, but a proper jolt, the creative equivalent of discovering a forgotten ten-pound note in an old coat. I was in my shed, rain machine-gunning the windows, halfway through a cup of tea that had already gone cold thanks to my talent for distraction.

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