Science Tidbits #6

[RJDiogenes]

Don't look up.

"Asteroid size of delivery truck coming exceedingly close to Earth, but will miss."
It's Amazon with my copy of Jack McDevitt's new book.

The scary thing is that these AI-generated student papers are new just since I retired a year ago. What's it going to be like in 10 years?

I think the world will be as different in ten years as it is now compared to before the Internet.

How could some amateur astronomer discover this asteroid before any of our professionals on the watch?

Probably because they concentrate on stuff that might pose a threat. This is kind of stretching the definition of "asteroid."

[Lupine]

^There's not enough of them watching.

[scottydog]

I think the world will be as different in ten years as it is now compared to before the Internet.

I agree. Progress occurs exponentially. And that's a bit disconcerting for us old folks who are already behind the curve and who will continue to fall farther behind.

^There's not enough of them watching.

Who watches the watchers?

[RJDiogenes]

^There's not enough of them watching.

That's for sure. Actually that might be another good task for AIs.

I agree. Progress occurs exponentially. And that's a bit disconcerting for us old folks who are already behind the curve and who will continue to fall farther behind.

There's no stopping it. Might as well enjoy the ride.

Who watches the watchers?

The... Oversight Committee.

[scottydog]

^ Don't forget we'll need overseers of oversight committees

[RJDiogenes]

I'll just need to audit their qualifications and references first.

[RJDiogenes]

And isn't there some form of hot ice, where water can reach a solid state under pressure?

I know some liquids can but I'm not sure about water.

This is what I was thinking of. I couldn't find it when I looked for it, but it came up randomly in another search.

[Lupine]

^At least it turned up.

[RJDiogenes]

It must have been on vacation.

[scottydog]

Have any of you used AI to generate images? Here's an article explaining how it's done.

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, I've been experimenting with those for a while. By using several different engines and some photoshopping, I've been able to put together some nice images. In fact, you've seen a couple of them on my blog.

[Lupine]

^I've been trying to see if they'd be any good at making cover art.

[RJDiogenes]

Definitely. The three pieces of art that I've posted on my blog, including the fake Reindeer Riders cover, were all made with the use of AI. It's best to use a bunch of different generators so that you can cut them up and recombine them and finesse them in Photoshop. You also have to do a lot of playing around with the text prompts to get the results you're looking for. It can be frustrating, but worth it.

[Lupine]

^I did some tinkering today and got one (free and unfortunately small) that turned out pretty good.

[scottydog]

Definitely. The three pieces of art that I've posted on my blog, including the fake Reindeer Riders cover, were all made with the use of AI. It's best to use a bunch of different generators so that you can cut them up and recombine them and finesse them in Photoshop. You also have to do a lot of playing around with the text prompts to get the results you're looking for. It can be frustrating, but worth it.

Do we need to be worried about ChatGPT and these AI art generators taking the place of humans, or taking the "humanity" or human element out of art?

^I did some tinkering today and got one (free and unfortunately small) that turned out pretty good.

I'd like to see the results of your creations. Or are they AI creations? Or is it a collaboration?