Tag: Technology

Posted in AI and Creativity

More Graphic Comics

Posted on by Mike

Last week I experimented with ChatGPT’s image creator to create some 6 panel graphic comics. Today I am seeing how well it can cope with dialogue and speech bubbles.

This was my prompt…

Create a 5 panel graphic comic using this story. Make the panels different sizes.Portrait size.
The Lottery “Congratulations.” The official stamped her papers. “You’ve been selected for motherhood.” Elena’s hands shook. “I didn’t apply.” “Nobody applies.” He smiled. “The algorithm chose you. Report to the facility by dawn.” “And if I refuse?” He tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. “Why would the algorithm select someone who’d refuse?”

Here’s what I got. I did have to do some editing and this was my 4th go. One problem was it kept putting one piece of dialogue into two speech bubbles! But it got there in the end.

P.S. I put the opening paragraph of this post into ChatGPT and asked for a feature image for the post. I have to say I was impressed.

What do you think? I’d love to know. Leave a thought in the comments section. Thanks.

A wide, orderly interior of a modern workplace with people standing at identical workstations on marked floor positions. Large digital screens display instructions, schedules, and productivity messages. Overhead lighting is uniform and impersonal, and no individual faces stand out. The scene feels controlled, repetitive, and quietly automated.
Posted in AI and Creativity

A Prompt to Prompt a Prompt…

Posted on by Mike

For this experiment I thought I would begin by asking AI, in this case ChatGPT, to give me a prompt. ‘Write a prompt in the form of a dystopian monologue.’ I did not say what I was going to do with the prompt, but notice how it has decided it is going to be a story. This is what I got…

I am required to explain what you will produce.

You will call it a story, though that word is no longer used officially. It must be short. Length beyond necessity is considered inefficient and may be interpreted as avoidance.

You will describe a world that resembles this one closely enough to be recognisable, but not so closely that responsibility can be assigned. Characters may exist, but they should function rather than desire. Motivation is optional. Compliance is preferred.

If something troubling occurs, present it calmly. Raised voices suggest instability. Questions are permitted only if they resolve themselves quickly.

You may end the piece without closure. In fact, that is encouraged. Endings tend to invite reflection, and reflection has a habit of spreading.

Remember: this is not a warning. It is a demonstration. Begin when ready.

This prompt is giving ChatGPT some very clear guidance as to how the story should be written. I wondered what would happen if I then simply pasted this prompt into ChatGPT? Here is the resulting story…

Continue reading “A Prompt to Prompt a Prompt…” →
Futuristic cityscape at night with a central humanoid AI figure glowing blue, surrounded by holographic data, digital circuitry, and a luminous brain interface, with the words ‘AI in 2026’ above, suggesting advanced artificial intelligence integrated into urban life.
Posted in AI and Creativity

What We Might Expect from AI in 2026

Posted on by Mike

If 2025 was the year AI stopped being optional, 2026 feels like the year it quietly takes a seat beside us and starts doing some actual work. Not the flashy kind. Not the science-fiction kind. The practical, slightly unglamorous kind that changes how our days are structured without making a fuss about it. We are moving beyond novelty. Fewer party tricks. More purpose.

So, looking ahead, here are some shifts that feel likely, not because they sound exciting, but because they solve real problems.

Continue reading “What We Might Expect from AI in 2026” →
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 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.

The Audio – ‘Where Silence Is Suspicious’

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