Tag: Writing

cartoon caricature of a small group of people, talking animatedly, looking skeptical, some with crossed arms
Posted in AI and Creativity

Writing With AI When Your Friends Don’t Approve

Posted on by Mike

There is a moment every writer meets sooner or later, often accompanied by the same slightly embarrassed smile. Someone asks what you are working on, and you mention that you use AI in your writing. You expect curiosity or at least a raised eyebrow. Instead, you get a faint wince. A gentle pullback. A polite cough followed by a change of subject. You can almost hear the unspoken verdict forming in their mind. It feels a little like turning up to a book club with a sandwich when everyone else has brought a homemade quiche.

Continue reading “Writing With AI When Your Friends Don’t Approve” →
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
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 #9: Strange Last Lines

Posted on by Mike

Welcome back to the AI Drabble Challenge, a weekly experiment in human and AI creativity. Each Wednesday, I will set a prompt to inspire a Drabble, a story told in exactly 100 words.

You can use any AI model you like (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, or others), or several at once. 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.

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 where you are given the last line. In fact I’m going to give you two to choose from:

‘It tasted like Tuesday’.
or
‘Nothing ever grew there again‘.

Example Drabble – ‘It Tasted Like Tuesday’

I used ChatGPT 5.1 and the prompt was – “Write a Drabble where this is the last line. – It tasted like Tuesday.”

The fog rolled in before dawn, thick enough to hide the street lamps and thin enough to let the city whisper. I followed the sound, drawn by a soft hum threading through the alleys like a half-remembered song. Every doorway felt occupied by something holding its breath. A flicker of movement brushed past my shoulder, though nothing lived here anymore. Still, the air pushed me onward, guiding me to the centre of the square where a single bowl waited on a cracked stone plinth. The smell rising from it was strangely familiar. I dipped a finger. It tasted like Tuesday.

How to Take Part

  1. Write your 100-word Drabble with help from an AI tool (or two).
  2. Post your story in the comments, or publish it on your own website and include a pingback to this post.
  3. If you can, share which AI model(s) you used and the prompt that started your process, we can all learn from each other.

Community & Highlights

Each week, I’ll read through the entries, share a few favourites, and highlight one that particularly stood out, for originality, style, or the inventive way it used AI.

This isn’t about competition; it’s about curiosity, experimentation, and celebrating how humans and machines can create together.

A Closing Thought

AI gives us the tools, but we give it meaning. Let’s see what stories emerge this week, 100 words at a time.

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.

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
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!