I did something a few days ago that I’m slightly ashamed of and loathe to admit out loud: I fired up ChatGPT and entered the following prompt: Give me an idea for a sequel to No Time For Kings, an eco-thriller by Mark Petruska.
Ouch. I know!! I feel like a hypocrite after steadfastly dissing AI. I hadn’t given ChatGPT so much as a second thought since leaving TobacCo ten months ago; my CheeseGov job is blessedly AI-free. But, as much as I would love to start writing a sequel – the itch is strong these days – coming up with a decent story has proven challenging. At best, I have a concept of a plan. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check in with our robot overlords, see if they could help jumpstart the process.
Things did not start out promisingly. It took ChatGPT five tries to get the right No Time for Kings, even though I’d supplied the author’s name. Funny, there’s only one other novel I’m aware of with the same title, so this made me extra skeptical. But after a series of repeated WRONG AUTHOR, DUMMY! replies, it finally got it right.
(Well, mostly. There is no Ethan Granger in my novel, but there is an Evan Gaffner – further proof you should never take AI as gospel.)
Much to my surprise, ChatGPT spit out a very detailed response that included a title, premise, plot, and themes. Even more shocking, it was pretty good! Not a direction I was considering, but one that actually makes a ton of sense. It’s a very logical next-step-in-the-journey for our intrepid heroine and moves the story to the present day admirably.
Rather than co-opting Balki’s “Dance of Joy,” I was actually a bit torn, because this creates a real dilemma. I feel like a cheat even turning to AI in the first place. I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut (what does that mean, anyway?!) Stephen King did not got his idea for Doctor Sleep, his sequel to The Shining, through a computer-generated prompt. And yet, I can’t unsee what I saw, ya know?
I’m trying hard to justify using this ill-gotten knowledge for good. First step: quit being so overdramatic! Maybe I just need to think of this as a brainstorming session…albeit, a brainstorming session with The Terminator. It’s not like I asked ChatGPT to write a freakin’ sequel. There are two pages’ worth of suggestions, most of which I would discard, though at its most basic, I do like the general plot. I see a great opportunity to combine my ideas with some of this other T-800 stuff to coax out a decent story.
Really curious for your thoughts.
I was waiting for an elevator at CheeseGov last week and did a double take when I saw Laverne and Shirley staring back at me from a giant monitor.
“Hey, I didn’t know it was Bring Your Pets to Work Day!” I said out loud with a chuckle. Which was weird, because I was the only one in the lobby at the time.
Every week our internal newsletter features a Show Us Your Pets segment where employees submit photos of and stories about their beloved furry companions. This is by far the most popular column in the newsletter; the waiting list is three months’ long, and yeah, I’d forgotten that I even submitted a Laverne and Shirley feature back in October. Seeing them pop up onscreen unexpected like that was a happy surprise (though for a brief moment I thought I was hallucinating). Several people commented on their names and/or their general cuteness. The native Wisconsinites especially loved the pop culture reference.
It’s still a little odd, this whole flex space thing. Every morning when I get to work, I play a little game I like to call, Where Will I Sit Today? Though mostly, it’s one of the same two spots – one a private cubicle in the corner, the other a window seat (but not the high-traffic spot at the end of the hallway). Which one I snag depends on several factors: traffic on the Beltline, my workload, the weather, and how social (or anti) I feel on any given day. Wouldn’t you know it though, I always end up at the same desk when working from home.
No big plans this weekend. It’s going to be cold and maybe a little snowy, but most of the heavy stuff is heading north. We plan to head to Janesville to shop at Woodman’s and stop by the brand new Raising Cane’s for lunch (being a fella who used to drive five hours for chicken fingers, this pleases me to no end).
Oh, and something about a big football game on Sunday…? (Please please please please PLEASE win, Eagles!)
Mark My Words 
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