Google's New Prototype AI Tool Does the Writing For You (theverge.com) 22
An anonymous reader shares a report: Remember that time Google showed off its artificial intelligence prowess by demoing conversations with Pluto and a paper airplane? That was powered by LaMDA, one of Google's latest-generation conversational AI models. Now, Google's using LaMDA to build Wordcraft, a prototype writing tool that can help creative writers craft new stories. AI-powered writing tools aren't new. Chances are you've heard of Grammarly or copywriting tools like Jasper. What makes Wordcraft a bit different is that it's framed as a means to help create fictional work. Google describes it as a sort of "text editor with purpose" built into a web-based word processor. Users can prompt Wordcraft to rewrite phrases or direct it to make a sentence funnier. It can also describe objects if asked or generate prompts. In a nutshell, it's sort of like wrapping an editor and writing partner into a single AI tool.
To test Wordcraft, Google created a workshop with 13 professional writers to see how well the prototype worked. While the writers seemed to appreciate Wordcraft as a way to spark new ideas, they unanimously agreed the tool wasn't going to replace authors anytime soon. For starters, the tool wasn't great at sticking to a narrative style and produced average or cliched writing. It also stuck to tried-and-true tropes while also steering clear of "mean" characters. "One clear finding was that using LaMDA to write full stories is a dead end. It's a much more effective tool when it's used to add spice," Douglas Eck, senior research director at Google Research, said at the AI@ event. Obviously, any prototype has kinks to work out. It's also hard to fully grasp what using an AI-powered creative writing tool is like. So I was curious to see a demo of it firsthand at Google's AI@ event.
To test Wordcraft, Google created a workshop with 13 professional writers to see how well the prototype worked. While the writers seemed to appreciate Wordcraft as a way to spark new ideas, they unanimously agreed the tool wasn't going to replace authors anytime soon. For starters, the tool wasn't great at sticking to a narrative style and produced average or cliched writing. It also stuck to tried-and-true tropes while also steering clear of "mean" characters. "One clear finding was that using LaMDA to write full stories is a dead end. It's a much more effective tool when it's used to add spice," Douglas Eck, senior research director at Google Research, said at the AI@ event. Obviously, any prototype has kinks to work out. It's also hard to fully grasp what using an AI-powered creative writing tool is like. So I was curious to see a demo of it firsthand at Google's AI@ event.
AI image generation (Score:4, Interesting)
Scott Adams commented that AI is the future of creative work, thinking that in his case that he'd be able to describe a series of cartoons and have the AI draw it for him, then speak the speech balloon contents, then say "and put something funny at the end" to have the AI complete the strip.
I thought I'd try that and see how good the AI text to image generation is, so I typed "Dilbert talking to pointy-haired boss" into a handful of online AI to image programs.
For everyone in the audience, "Dilbert talking to pointy-haired boss" conjures up a specific image. There may be variations: (Dilbert on left or right, boss holding coffee or not, both sitting at conference table or in hall, &c), but it's essentially those two characters.
I invite anyone interested to type that text into any of the online text to image AI systems, just to see how good those systems are nowadays.
It doesn't work.
Check it out yourself and see just how badly it doesn't work.
Compare with (Google, or images.yandex.com) image search for those same terms.
(For some bizarre reason, the AI generated boss character frequently looks like Trump. I suspect it's the juxtaposition of "boss" and "hair", coupled with the fact that Trump's been in the news for the last 6 years.)
Re: (Score:2)
> Scott Adams commented that AI is the future of creative work, thinking that in his case that he'd be able to describe a series of cartoons...[and] have the AI complete the strip.
Or just video my work-place and apply the SnapChat "Cartoonify" filter. I'm under 3 PHB's.
Scott Adams has a carpel-tunnel-like issue, if I'm not mistaken, such that he may have a good reason to explore such AI.
Re: (Score:3)
Scott Adams commented that AI is the future of creative work, thinking that in his case that he'd be able to describe a series of cartoons and have the AI draw it for him, then speak the speech balloon contents, then say "and put something funny at the end" to have the AI complete the strip.
Okay, but what will he do for the other 75% of them?
I thought I'd try that and see how good the AI text to image generation is, so I typed "Dilbert talking to pointy-haired boss" into a handful of online AI to image programs.
[...]
I invite anyone interested to type that text into any of the online text to image AI systems, just to see how good those systems are nowadays.
For laughs I tried it on stable diffusion 1.5 on my gaming PC, and the results are amusingly bad. But if you were to train a model purely on the corpus of existing dilbert comics, you would be more likely to get viable results.
EMACS (Score:2)
Oh, Emacs has had this feature for years, hasn't it?
Ah, yes, here it is:
-------
write-4me is an autoloaded interactive Lisp function in
‘storywriter.el’.
(write-4me &optional ARG)
Write the necessary text in the current buffer. Every so often the user will be prompted whether to continue.
If ARG is positive, write a story.
If ARG is negative, write a depressing or sarcastic story.
Default is 2 (creative).
-----
Emacs Manufactures All Creative Stories
Google chat with Pluto? (Score:2)
I bet the demo's are either rigged or cherry-picked out of many failures. Google's marketing team tends to talk out of Uranus.
If you run hundreds of sessions, you can cherry-pick the best and still technically deny that they were rigged. They are real sessions, just not representative, which is misleading.
I tried it out (Score:1)
I think it will be very helpful for me and I will come to love using it and integrate it in my daily
What do you mean it's been cancelled ?
Never mind.
Let me guess... (Score:2)
Regardless of the (lack of) quality or originality of any works created this way, ALL of them will live on forever in the endless Alphabet cloud.
No thanks Google. You already have way more than enough data on and insight into the average internet user, and your motives are obviously and demonstrably evil. Get stuffed, you bloated leering privacy rapist.
NovelAI (Score:3)
The author must not be very familiar with the topic, as NovelAI is the state-of-the-art is AI creative fiction writing. It has similar shortcomings to Google's thing, but it's uncensored, creative, weird, and has image generation too.
Re: (Score:2)
NovelAI is not creative. It's rather awkward tbh.
Re: (Score:3)
I've bought two months of it so far, and it's plenty creative. But it's not magic, and you have to guide it. It's kind of like a car with lane assist that ping pongs between the lines vs. one with full autopilot.
Re: (Score:2)
Cool. What have you been using it for?
Re: (Score:2)
Text adventures or writing idiotic and ridiculous stories when I'm in bed and falling asleep. I tried making an Avatar fan-fiction and it went completely off the rails, with one of the Na'vi being named "Colossal Blue Balls" and intent on slaughtering every human. He was, indeed, a colossal prick. I love it.
The image gen is better than Stable Diffusion for some subjects too, like anime or some types of storybook scenery. Even with the leaked hypernets. They must've improved it
Re: (Score:2)
I'm going to suggest that the creative part is you, giving it the guidance it needs to progress.
Re: (Score:2)
I still think it's like a car ping-ponging between dotted lines on the highway, but you create the dotted lines. I think everyone can be creative enough to have fun. They give you free credits without even signing in, I recommending trying it out. Let me know how it goes if you want
Re: (Score:2)
I tried NovelAI out as soon as you recommended it, actually. Before even replying to you. Your use case is kind of an interesting one that I've never thought of before, so I'm going to think about it some more. Kind of like a "choose your own adventure" story but with more freedom.
The real question (Score:2, Offtopic)
Will it use your or you're? Their is a case to be made they're will be many writers who will be confused when there words don't look right.
Re: (Score:2)
Are you trying for a job as a Slashdot editor? That post made my head hurt.
To serve man (Score:2)
I wanted to test it out, so I asked it, "write a story about a Google project that is not cancelled."
Strangely, it replied with a single word:
"Ads."
output not ready for prime time (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
1984 called (Score:2)
And wants it book-writing machines back that create cheap trash entertainment for the masses.