The Latest in the Fall of the Republic – Pt. 7 – AI Took Our Jerbs

So, you probably have seen a few headlines at this point about AI taking over the world, billions of dollars in investment funds pouring in, or maybe a tweet like this.

And its certainly put people….lets say on edge a bit.

However, unlike even crypto, the actual current applications feel thin. And the biggest one, CNET’s use of AI got them into a ton of trouble (as noted above), so they pulled it.

So, we are sort of left with this phantom. A sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. And all the talk is of the far end. Going so far as wanting their AI to argue in front of the Supreme Court.

Well, without any idea of actual corporate adoption of these technologies, or even skunkworks projects at present….I am left with one option. To mess with the AI’s myself. After all, they are all free (for the moment), and accessible. So I messed around with ChatGPT for text and Midjourney for images.

First thing off the bat, the technology is not at all ready for prime time. Its unreliable, inconsistent, and a mess. At least Midjourney was up anytime I was looking for it. ChatGPT is like random. You never know when it will be online. I managed to get lucky enough to write this blog.

Lets talk about each other separately and then regroup at the end.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT has…problems, despite being the most talked about thing since sliced bread. Lets jump right into an example.

The Talking Heads are widely considered to be one of the most innovative and influential bands of the 20th century, known for their unique blend of rock, funk, and world music. They released eight studio albums between 1977 and 1988, and each one showcases the band’s evolving sound and style.

One album that stands out as a fan favorite and critical darling is “Remain in Light” (1980). This album marked a turning point in the band’s career, as they began to incorporate more African rhythms and funk influences into their music. The album features the hit single “Once in a Lifetime,” which became one of the band’s most iconic songs and is still widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time.

Another standout album is “Speaking in Tongues” (1983), which was the band’s most successful album and includes the hit single “Burning Down the House”. This album marked a further shift towards a more funk and R&B-inspired sound, and it also featured the band’s most cohesive and polished songwriting to date.

“Fear of Music” (1979) is also a great album that showcases the band’s experimentation with different sounds and styles. The album features the hit single “Life During Wartime” and it also offers a great balance of the band’s rock and funk influences.

Ultimately, the best Talking Heads album is a matter of personal preference. Each album offers a unique perspective on the band’s sound and style, and they are all worth exploring. However, the above three albums are considered by many to be their finest works.

Prompt: “Write a blog about what album is Talking Heads’ best album”

ChatGPT has specific structures it uses constantly. And everything is in this rubrick. Blogs are always 5 paragraphs. An answer will restate the question and then give an argument at the end restating the answer. It’s regular writing is also very static. It has a specific cadence that sounds like Siri is saying it. Now this is not true for everything. You can give it further descriptors and it will adapt (as we will see at the end). But overall, I would say it’s easy to spot.

Even beyond the rigid writing, its biggest flaw is accuracy. The more obscure you get, the more it tries to project a little. ChatGPT is like one of those friends that will make shit up along the way. An example:

Sifl and Olly is a cult classic television show that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1999. The show was created by Liam Lynch and starred Lynch as the puppets Sifl and Olly, two sock puppets who hosted their own cable access show.
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Despite its small audience, Sifl and Olly developed a devoted fanbase and has since gained cult status. The show was released on DVD in 2000, and Lynch has since released a number of albums and videos featuring Sifl and Olly. In addition, Lynch has also released a book about how to create your own sock puppets, in honor of the show.

Prompt Excerpt: Write a blog about the history of The Sifl & Olly Show

There is a problem off the bat. Very little of this is accurate. The show was created by both Liam Lynch and Matt Crocco, the show was never released on home media except for the unpublished 3rd season (which I have that DVD), and Liam Lynch never cut a sockpuppet book.

I imagine if you had to use ChatGPT for some actual use, this would be a much bigger problem than just bullshit about pop culture stuff.

Midjourney

Of the two, Midjourney is the one most ready for primetime. Probably because its visual by nature?

Lets jump right in. There has been much discussion in my friends group of the whereabouts of Jeff Kaplan, the long time lead designer of Overwatch, after left Blizzard and disappeared off the face of the earth. He never joined another game company. Just poof. Disappeared.

So, we always joked that he is doing the Walden thing. Welp.

On first glance, crushing blow. Way better than Chat GPT. They got the tattoos on his arms. However, you can already see the issues that Midjourney, and really all the visual AI has.

Lets start obvious. Fingers and teeth. It can’t count. If you give it anything like a smile or something, it will completely shit the bed. There are plenty of images with people with shark teeth and 7-8 fingers on each hand. Second, it has trouble sometimes with specific like objects. If you notice, it can’t quite get to rod and reel. But it gets close.

Lets do another one.

I have done a ton of Midjourney shit at this point, and will probably do more (cause its much easier to access than ChatGPT, and more fun), but I think this is the best example.

See the AI knows the piece. The AI like…struggles. You see this alot no matter what you put it. It struggles to get there. It can’t quite get the perspective right. It also tries to balance the fact that clearly The Raft of the Medusa is a proper noun, but like…do you want a literal Medusa in there?

And it’ll churn and churn on that theme.

Overall, where I think we are at right now with both of these technologies is the same place. It gives an excellent starting point. You can jump from there a do several things with it.

If you are having trouble getting that initial spark of inspiration, ChatGPT and to a greater extent Midjourney can give you what you need to get started.

I can see a future where a human starts with an AI generated thing and makes tweaks to it. However, from a “they took err jerbs” perspective, it has a long way to go. There are too many tells. Too many errors. And in professional work, those add up and will be real problems.

I don’t think anyone has anything to fear in the short term. I don’t care what Buzzfeed does. They gunna get hella sued when they publish some shit that ChatGPT gets wrong. And to be honest, I am not convinced these kind of errors are fixed by more data. OpenAI will have to drastically improve the code that actually backs all these things. Otherwise, it will just continue to be what it is now. Something that is more gimmick than substance. Something you can spark your creativity with, but nothing that will take the money out your wallet.

In a rare turn (and something I would never say of crypto), you should go try one or both of these things out. I would personally suggest Midjourney cause its the easiest. It’s on discord and is always up. Plus it’s just plain fun.

And, I will leave you with this piece of AI based instruction. Enjoy.

Hey y’all, it’s ya boy and I’m here to tell y’all ’bout my recent experience tryin’ to start a generator durin’ hurricane season. Now, livin’ in Cajun country, we know all ’bout de storms and de power outages dat come wit’em. So we always make sure to have a generator on hand jus’ in case.

But let me tell y’all, tryin’ to start dat ting up in de middle of a hurricane is no easy feat. I’m talkin’ ’bout de wind howlin’ and de rain beatin’ down, and you tryin’ to get dis machine goin’ so you can have some lights and maybe catch the game on TV.

I tell ya, I was out dere in dat storm for what felt like hours, gettin’ drenched and covered in mud, tryin’ to get dat ting to start. But finally, after what felt like a lifetime, she roared to life.

It was a relief, let me tell ya, to have some power back on during a storm like dat. And it was a reminder of the importance of bein’ prepared for anything, especially when it comes to natural disasters.

So, if y’all ever find yaself in a similar situation, don’t give up. Keep tryin’ and eventually, you’ll get dat generator goin’, and it’ll be worth it in the end. And always, always be prepared for hurricane season, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Prompt: Write a blog about trying to start a generator during hurricane season in a Cajun accent

Band – Album – Song

To go for it, is a choice. The most deliberate choice a band can make.

There are very few failures of this method, cause I think you really have to think it out for a long time. So most people shy away from it.

I, of course mean, Band – Album – Song. Having a song that is the name of your band on a self-titled record. I am a fan of this line of decision making.

Having a song that is about your band doesn’t count. Doing 2 out of 3 doesn’t count. You have to fucking commit.

It takes fucking balls to do it. Cause you are basically creating a mission statement. Like this is who we are and this is what we are about.

It sets the tone for every record to follow. Now you have to fucking live up to that thing you did.

To me, it means you care. You care to actually do something that insane. And you have the ego to back it up. The id.

I feel like you also establish a sound. When they think of your band from now on, they are going to think of that sound. So you gotta be comfortable living in that sound.

Sure you can leave it for a bit, but you always come back. Can’t go folk. You have to stay in weapons range of that Band – Album – Song.

It’s a font of strength. You have to play it almost every time you play it live. I saw Sabbath on the last tour. Guess what they opened with. You know it.

Sure you get tired of it. You may even get sick of it. But you committed. This is your world, we are all just living in it.

I think I love this concept for the same reason I love the insane double album. Go big or go home. What’s the point of making music if you aren’t going whole hog. We aren’t out here to hear 50,000 Michael Jackson clones. We are out here to do something interesting.

So, future bands, I say unto you, spend a bit more time crafting what you do. Think about it. Come out with a statement.

Even if you flame out, no one can say you didn’t have some shit to say. At the bare minimum, I will be there to listen to it.

Be confident. Be choosy. Be insane enough to make a song that checks all three boxes.

Thoughts from the AMEN Pew #63

You know, after the holidays, it’s nice to get back into the swing of things. I suppose I am a creature of routine at the end of the day. So, its nice to have some of that again.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great holiday. Extremely restful. And its rough to dive back into the bullshit after that. But, I suppose this is why people go on vacation….to have a chance to reset. And it was a pain all the way into the gate. New Year. New Shame.

Lets jump right in the shame then. So after all the fucking internet yelling, I went ahead and watched Velma.

And, it’s bad. But its not atrociously terrible. The show is real fucking mean the way an animated comedy in the early 2000s was. But just written poorly. Wont watch any more episodes, but I do have this to say…

What the hell is wrong with all of you? This is now rated worse than Dragonball Evolution. To which I say… No, it is fucking not.

Like I get it, the internet hates “woke comedy” whatever that means. So they are going to rate it to death. It is not fucking worse than Dragonball Evolution. Hell its not worse than Blade Trinity. Does the internet understand the difference between bad writing and total incompetence? The animation is fine. And the voice acting is good. This is not complete trash. Its just bad.

I encourage anyone to watch the first episode and honestly tell me its one of the worst things they have ever seen. Grow up.

I also picked up an old tradition I haven’t done in a long LONG time. I am front-to-back’ing artists catalogues who I haven’t done that yet. I haven’t done that in many years. This time’s target? Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Previously, I knew the BIG ALBUMS, and I fucking love love those two Grinderman records. But I hadn’t heard it all.

Now that I have, I am so glad I did. I still think the BIG ALBUMS are big for a reason. His best record is still Murder Ballads, but the recent discography is no slouch. I liked Skeleton Tree. I think my most controversial take is that the Boatman’s Call doesn’t hold up for me as much as his unhinged stuff. I much rather the rants about murder and fucking than anything else.

To my audience, I really recommend the early stuff. The pre-Let Love In stuff. You will find some gems in there.

I enjoyed it so much, I think I may tackle one of the really BIG artists next. We will see. For now, enjoy.

Ok, heres a thing I have never addressed that I don’t want to turn into a full blog. But I will if needed.

You are going to hear a ton of bullshit soon about the debt ceiling.

This fight is going to be bullshit. America has achieved a goal it has sought for a long time. Total dependency. The world fucking NEEDS us. Money. Consumption. Military. All of it.

The actual debt number is now irrelevant. It is so fucking LARGE that it is actually impossible to manage it. But, everyone fucking depends on it. The reliability of American debt is paramount. The number could be infinity. We can service it. Think of it as a representative number of american reliance. Just let us rely.

If you fuck up the government, that is on you. You absolutely dont have to. None of this has to happen. It will, but it will only hurt ourselves.

We are going to punch ourselves in the dick for…. Jesus? not sure I can come up with a better answer than that.

Lets leave it at that. Going to have a few weeks with some programming and not preaching. More media shit. I’m on a roll and lets keep rolling.

If we don’t talk, hopefully things are going good for you so far this year.

If not, lets get dark.