So I was one of those people who saw AI as a threat to humanity, this is going back almost twelve months now. As an author and screenwriter I saw AI beginning to take over what I did... at least it seemed that way back then - all those months ago. But my wife's family had a sudden emergency and we rushed back to Singapore and while the family were occupied with family matters that didn't require “in-law input” (as I called it), I looked into AI – specifically image generation.
I downloaded a couple of apps to 'see what all the fuss is about' and to make up my own mind.
I tried a few image generations with dubious results, and began to work out a way of writing what I wanted (what we now know as prompt engineering) and then I was met with a life-changing result.
I was putting in all the details of the lead character of a novel I was working on. The image generated and I was staring face to face with the character I'd written – 'Eddy Mills'.
I tried a few image generations with dubious results, and began to work out a way of writing what I wanted (what we now know as prompt engineering) and then I was met with a life-changing result.
I was putting in all the details of the lead character of a novel I was working on. The image generated and I was staring face to face with the character I'd written – 'Eddy Mills'.
It seemed all-so much more real than just keeping the characters in mind. It sparked inspiration because I could see him, and then creating all the other characters, the girl he was interested in. 'Kim Gerard'. I created all of them and I began to see their motivations – why he liked her and why she liked him. Why the antagonists are the way they are.
Then I wondered if I could see them move – especially Kim on her bumble-bee yellow Vespa with the black pin-stripe down the front.
So I downloaded AI video apps and played around with them. And I watched my characters come to life, move and react to things in their world.
But being the creative type it didn't stop there. It was now more than just the novel. It was so much more than that. While taking public transport around Singapore I noticed everyone everywhere absorbed in their phones, and taking brief “research-gathering over-the-shoulder glances” I noticed it was video that the majority of people were engaged in. I now had the power to make that in my hand. why stop at storyboarding a novel; I could make it into an AI film, or web episodes and expand the story further– but a huge project like that would need more than a just few apps on my phone.
I was in the phase where I knew there was something I needed but didn't know what it was, and didn't know how to find it because I didn't know what it was called. All I knew was it was in the realm of AI.
But it wasn't until a few months later when my wife said that Mindvalley was doing an “AI Summit”, so I checked it out over the days... It now had a path, a name and possibility. Two stand-out talks for me were from Manon Dave and Dominic Ashburn (Mr Grateful). Talking about their works and accomplishments, I now saw the path.
So I signed up right there and then. All too often I've hesitated and wondered and talked myself out of opportunities in the past, this is my time to just grab hold and don't let go. There's no looking back now (other than recounting the story while I write this, of course), we're about half-way through AI Mastery and I've gotten so much already. What I'd learnt previously, coupled with what the teachers have to share, the possibilities are endless. Because they teach the whole process, the creation, planning and the workflow needed for any project to take off; which was one of the things I was lacking. You can be automated just about everything to create whatever you see in your imagination.
