Image Source: Open AI’s GPT-2 (SoTA Language Model)

Does Not Compute: Why Machines Need a Practical Sense of Humor

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Image Source: Open AI’s GPT-2 (SoTA Language Model)
Image Source: Open AI’s GPT-2 (SoTA Language Model)

“The next obvious question: What does a machine’s sense of irony do for us, the machine’s users? The strongest case can be made for the automated recognition of irony, and of sarcasm too, since these have such dramatic effects on the perception of a user’s sentiment, either in online reviews, social media, and emails, or in our direct interactions with the machine. To do its job properly, a machine needs to grasp our intent, but irony can do for sentiment analysis what a magnet can do to a compass, making true north difficult to locate. So, for instance, if a machine is going to derive actionable insights from an online product review, it needs to know whether a positive outlook is sincere or ironic.”

More at MIT Press.

GojirAI : Cult Movies vs. AI : My first NFTs

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Introducing BoredApe Drummin’ for GojirAI!

(pronounced Go-JEER-eye)

Own some of the first AI-assisted NFT art on OpenSea! A limited set of 101 images, each one unique, assisted by AI, but subverted by a human, who inputs disruptive suggestions, and curates the results… uh, that would be me.

Those results are one-time-only. If I reject what the machine creates, that image is lost forever. If anyone else entered the same input, they would not get the same result.

This makes my role more of a decider than a doer. There’s a long tradition of artists working with assistants, from Michelangelo to Andy Warhol. So, this is nothing new, except now the assistant plugs into the wall.

Zombies on BroadwayI have a weird sense of humor.

I also used to break software for a living. My M.O. has long been to try to make art out of whatever the bleeding edge is, usually by trying to break it, and tweak noses in the process. An unrepentant punk sensbility, basically. Same thing here. Crashing this party. When an AI engine called Wombo became available, I couldn’t wait to try to break it, by feeding it my favorite cult movie titles.

There are similar engines extant, some commercial, some in academia, and they have an interface that outputs abstract art based on your text input. Rather than use their suggestions (“rainbow dolphin”), I input things like “The Corpse Grinders” and curated the results. Voilà – man/machine partnership in art! [rueful grin]

I chose images that seemed to have some of the spirit of the original movie. I was surprised at how supple the results were. I tended to like first attempts best, when it made the most mistakes. For artists, mistakes are often hidden intentions. Teach that to the AI!

I hope, with this collection, I can help get people interested in these movies if they’ve never seen them. You won’t find them on Netflix! If you’re already a fan, I hope you’ll find these new interpretations as fascinating as I do.

Feast your eyes – if you dare!

The complete first set is 101 images, and here’s the first 11 that I’ll be offering for sale as NFTs on OpenSea. Scroll left and right to see them all. Enjoy!

Red Level – opened at .5 ETH

A Clockwork Orange – on sale now
All The Colors Of The Dark – on sale now
The Dance of Reality – on sale now
The Man Who Fell to Earth – on sale now

Orange Level

Atom Age Vampire
Eyes Without a Face
War of the Worlds
Videodrome

Yellow Level

I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
The Rats Are Coming, The Werewolves Are Here!
Zombies on Broadway

UPDATE: Well, my plan was to do the three levels, but after I listed the Bowie, which was top level, it wouldn’t let me set any other image’s price lower than that! It’s the “floor price.” Well, shit! That was not what I intended! I wanted a “punk rock level” for some of them, ya know? So, I just listed the four I intended for that level and I’ll see what I can do about the others.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

FBC on Crypto and NFTs

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Ok, I’ve been soaking my brain for the last week in this topic. Here’s my reaction so far. Bear in mind, nothing said here is any kind of advice, financial or otherwise. Also, fully acknowledging my incomplete understanding in advance, and the inexorable march of time that will render this all obsolete. But for now, here’s a first marker.

I should note that after this, I decided to launch a first NFT collection on OpenSea. There is both promise and peril herein. Further research is indicated. The environmental issues will be resolved in the near future. Market forces will insist on it. My general policy is to try something before I decide if it’s good or bad. It beats the alternative.