Posted in AI and Creativity

What Kind of Art Does Midjourney Make From a Single Quote?

If you are a regular visitor to this blog you will know that I love to experiment, play and have fun with all things AI. With that in mind I thought I would delve into my favourite AI image generator – Midjourney.

What Inspired Me?

I was recently staying at a hotel and the notepad in my room had inspirational quotes on the bottom of each page. I wondered what Midjourney would do if I simply put an inspirational quote in as the prompt? How would it interpret the quote?

Here’s what I got…

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Posted in AI and Creativity

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

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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Posted in AI and Creativity

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

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.”

Continue reading “Yes, I Think AI Can Write Better Stories Than Me. Here’s Why That Doesn’t Scare Me.”
Posted in AI and Creativity

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

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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Posted in AI and Creativity

When Six Images Became a Mini-Film: Testing Midjourney + ElevenLabs 

How two AI tools turned still pictures into moving art, and why this is just the beginning

This week I tried a small experiment that turned into something surprisingly delightful. I took six still images created in Midjourney and asked it to turn each one into a five-second video. Nothing fancy, no complicated prompting, just a simple “animate this” test to see what it could do.

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