Speculative Futures with GeMs
AI tools to see possible futures, at your fingertips
Here's an example of using AI to generate Design Fiction. In a proposed workshop, the generative image and generative text tools can be taught in 10 minutes and then participants need about 45 minutes to get a decent story written using AI.
The above text was used as a prompt in GPT-3, an AI Generative Model (GeM) by OpenAI. The following was fully generated by GPT3 in one shot:
The AI would first generate an image: The image might be of a future cityscape with flying cars and holograms [this phrase used as the prompt for the above image].
Then, the AI would generate a piece of text to go along with the image:
In the future, flying cars and holograms are commonplace. People use them to commute to work and to entertain themselves. However, there is a dark side to this technology. Some people use it to commit crimes. Flying cars and holograms are also used by the military. They use them to spy on other countries and to attack targets. Some people believe that the use of this technology will lead to the end of privacy.
I’m impressed that GPT3 got the idea of the workshop! And I also love the possibility of more crime as a potential risk of flying cars and holograms. But, there isn’t much artistry, is there?
Well, with more guidance, GPT3 can produce much more sophisticated work. The following prompt was used to create an outline for a “Solar Punk” speculative fiction novel:
GPT3 Prompt
A detailed chapter-by-chapter summary of a solar punk short story in the style of Jules Verne. The story involves a Cloud Research Laboratory at TU Delft that aims to use advanced technologies to generate marine clouds. Marine Clouds help cool the underlying ocean by reflecting more light into space. In the story, the researchers propose a zeppelin research laboratory to be deployed over different ecosystems in order to measure local temperature reductions. Not everyone is happy with the attempts to interfere in natural climate systems. Sabotage is suspected.
The Drowned World
Chapter 1:
The narrator, a researcher at the Cloud Research Laboratory at TU Delft, gives a brief overview of the work being done at the laboratory. They are working on ways to generate marine clouds, which can help cool the ocean and reflect more light into space.
Chapter 2:
The researchers propose a zeppelin research laboratory, which would be deployed over different ecosystems in order to measure local temperature reductions. The plan is met with some opposition, as not everyone is happy with the attempts to interfere in natural climate systems.
Chapter 3:
Sabotage is suspected when the zeppelin research laboratory is damaged before it can be deployed. The Cloud Research Laboratory is determined to find out who is responsible.
Chapter 4:
The Cloud Research Laboratory discovers that the saboteurs are a group of environmental activists who oppose the use of technology to interfere with natural systems. The activists are arrested and the Cloud Research Laboratory is able to continue their work.
Chapter 5:
The zeppelin nears completion. The technical specifications are impressive: it is to be filled with Helium and have a length of 120 meters. It will be able to stay afloat for weeks at a time and will be equipped with all the necessary scientific equipment.
Chapter 6:
The Cloud Research Laboratory prepares to launch the zeppelin. There is excitement and some apprehension as the researchers know that there is still much unknown about the effects of their work.
Chapter 7:
The Zeppelin is successfully launched and begins its research mission. The results are promising and the Cloud Research Laboratory is able to show that their work can help reduce global temperatures.
Chapter 8:
Plot twist. It is revealed that the activists from Chapter 4 were not actually responsible for the sabotage. The true saboteurs are a group of Shell oil executives who want to defame climate activists.
Chapter 9:
The Cloud Research Laboratory's work is now widely accepted and marine cloud generation is becoming a common practice. The zeppelin research laboratory is seen as a success and a new era of environmental protection has begun. But then the public learns that Shell executives were behind the sabotage all along. The Cloud Research Laboratory's work is discredited.
Chapter 10:
The Cloud Research Laboratory is shut down and the zeppelin research is dismantled. The scientists are left to wonder what could have been if their work had been allowed to continue.
