AI and Daydreaming by Claire Fayers

We had many interesting workshops on the Folly Farm winter retreat this year. The last one was a discussion/demonstration on how we can use AI, led by Alex English who knows far more about the subject than me.

I'd only previously had a look at ChatGPT out of curiosity, so I struck by how much is possible. From suggestions for characters, to draft emails and entire presentations. The possibilities are exciting. And, of course, a little worrying.

Studies such as this one have already show how reliance on GPS affects people's brains. There are no studies yet of the effect of reliance on AI on imagination.

When writing The Accidental Pirates, I bought the Dummies Guide to Astronomy and scoured the pages for possible character names. Results: Cassie O'Pia, Marfak West, Aldebran Boswell, the great library of Barnard's Reach, the legendary explorer, Orion, and the misspelled pirate ship Onion.

What would happen if I took a shortcut and asked ChatGPT for suggestions.

Some of them aren't bad, but they all feel a bit generic. I have two questions. First, where do those suggestions come from? We already know the problems with copyright breaches. And secondly, what happens to my imagination if, instead of dreaming up names, characters and places, I simply type a request into my computer and pick a suggestion?

AI is a powerful tool and there's probably a balance to be struck. Having seen what's possible, I'm planning to use it for some of my admin tasks and for image generation. I've used Bing to create images with mixed results (all my characters are now quite unrealistically attractive.) But I think I'll find other ways to generate ideas for my books.