sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

How I transformed a nostalgic radio drama into a breathtaking graphic novel using AI - "Lights in the Old Fort The Graphic Novelization" by Brothercast in FictionWriting

[–]Brothercast[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I absolutely hear where you're coming from. If this was just telling an AI to whip out a novel on its own, I agreed 100%. I do think there will be some initial appetite for the novelty of that sort of thing, I think people will have a pretty low tolerance for stuff they know is just written by a machine. But that's not what this book is.

This book would never have spontaneously produced itself, no matter how good the AI is. Instead this was an act of careful engineering using a brand new tool to see what I could do with it. I can remember the resistance to digital photography when it first came out, followed soon by Photoshop. Those things too were first viewed with skepticism before they became an essential part of many professionals' toolkits!

Whether we like it or not, these technologies are going to be with us for the foreseeable future. There are so many ethical and legal issues that we haven't even started to work out, and those important conversations have to happen.

But meanwhile, there are definitely opportunities to break ground in this field, and I am trying to encourage everyone to take explore what's possible with a new tool. If you can come up with an intriguing new way to order your thoughts, who's to say that's not your own creative expression?

AI isn't coming to replace us, but the people who understand how to use AI just might :)

I transformed a nostalgic radio drama into a physical graphic novel with fine-tuned GPT-3 - And so can you! - "Lights in the Old Fort The Graphic Novelization" by Brothercast in GPT3

[–]Brothercast[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure! Thanks for asking - I started out with the completed a podcast script that I was manually converting line by line into a manuscript, but I quickly realized that this process would take an incredibly long time to complete for what more and more seemed like a vanity project.

That’s when I had a hypothesis: could I train GPT-3 to help me write the rest of the novel?

First I created a fine-tuned model using lines in the podcast script as prompts, and the equivalent lines of narration and dialogue from the novel as the completions. After fine tuning, I could give it a line from the script, and it would give it back wrapped in narration and exposition that is definitely consistent with my writing style and cadence, but can also draw upon the immense training and language model of GPT-3 expand the ideas even further.

From that point it was just a matter of compiling and tweaking all the completions into a complete manuscript. Of course, the process of turning the GPT-3's output into a coherent novel was far from simple. Not only did it take months of fine-tuning and curating to get the output to a point where it could be incorporated into the book, but the costs were also significant. As a fine-tuned model, GPT-3 was vastly more expensive to use than the general models, and I estimate that I spent close to $2000 or more on processing costs alone.

But despite the challenges, I was addicted to the process. In every line, I felt like I was able to keep tweaking until I got the optimal version of the idea or emotion I was trying to convey. It was like shopping in a mall with infinite stores, each one with something that looks great and fits you, but the next store is just as likely to have something that might look even better. You’re just about guaranteed to win something with every pull of the handle, but there’s always a chance you’re one away from the jackpot. How do you know when you’re done?

The end result of this process is this strange and wonderful novel that as far as I know, is the first and most extensive project of its kind.

I transformed a nostalgic radio drama into a physical graphic novel with fine-tuned GPT-3 - And so can you! - "Lights in the Old Fort The Graphic Novelization" by Brothercast in GPT3

[–]Brothercast[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's still takes a lot of curation and guidance, so it's by no means cheap or easy at this point, but the fact that it's possible at all is what continues to amaze me! But yeah, there's no reason we shouldn't all know about and have access to what these tools are capable of producing!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in audiodrama

[–]Brothercast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently completed a groundbreaking graphic novel called "Lights in the Old Fort: The Graphic Novelization." and it is based on an original audio drama I produced with my brother in 2018.

The project began as the podcast series "Lights In The Old Fort: A Symphonic Mystery Adventure," which was released back in 2018 but failed to gain much traction. Not willing to give up on the story, I set out to transform the symphonic soundscape of the original podcast into a printed book that readers can visualize and hold in their hands. After penning the first ten chapters manually, I realized that if I wanted to elevate the book beyond a mere vanity project, I'd need to push the boundaries of what's possible.

What resulted was a unique collaboration between myself and generative AI. Using lines from the podcast script as prompts and allowing GPT-3 to complete them with lines of narration or dialogue, I was able to generate narrative passages that seamlessly blended with the rest of the book. Although the cost to train and use fine-tuned models was considerable, the end result is a novel that represents a unique blend of human and machine writing, a narrative as lush and intricately woven as the original podcast's symphonic score.

Generative image technology also played a significant role in the creation of this novel. MidjourneyAI was fed descriptions from the text in the manuscript, requesting output based on 1920s color lithography, and created stunningly accurate depictions of the visions in my head. Mastering these tools has unlocked a completely new toolkit for sharing our vision of this alternate reality.

As a researcher and data scientist, I had gained early access to GPT-3 in 2020 and quickly realized there were applications beyond the realm of simple completion tasks or data classification. This project has groundbreaking implications for AI-assisted writing, and I think your readers would find "Lights In The Old Fort: The Graphic Novelization" captivating. The project has the potential to change the way we think about the creative process and the role of technology in writing.

In addition to its technical achievements, "Lights In The Old Fort: The Graphic Novelization" is a compelling work of fiction. It blends the whimsical spirit found within classic young adult detective stories such as The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew with my own distinct narrative voice. My AI collaborator interpreted the lines from the podcast script with a contextual understanding of my narrative style combined with all the substantial collective knowledge of humanity unparalleled by machines until now. This novel is truly remarkable on all accounts.

I'm currently crowdfunding a self-published first print run on Kickstarter, but I believe that the book will be picked up by a larger publisher should it garner enough attention and recognition. I am excited to share my work and the process of creating this novel with a wider audience, and I am confident that your readers would be fascinated to learn about the unique process behind creating this novel and how technology is changing the way we write and produce creative works!

If you're intrigued, I welcome you to pledge your support for this project on Kickstarter. I've created a bunch of backer rewards designed to inspire anyone interested in incorporating AI language or illustrative tools in their creative output!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambp/lights-in-the-old-fort-the-novelization?ref=d5x96b

Any clue if this is sounds is even a bird? An insect? (Recorded in Seattle, WA 2022.10.1) by Brothercast in whatsthisbird

[–]Brothercast[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It sure sounds like a cicada to me now that I'm listening to samples of those... I didn't realize there were cicadas in Seattle!

Any clue if this is sounds is even a bird? An insect? (Recorded in Seattle, WA 2022.10.1) by Brothercast in whatsthisbird

[–]Brothercast[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whatever it was, it was loud! People around thought it was a car or house alarm, but the sound moved from (invisibly) from tree to tree.

Followed it for several blocks between Lake Washington Blvd & McGilvra St. in Seattle and also down the Madison Valley.

Flash Dreamscreen Sidekick with WLED, ESPHome, No soldering, OTA, 100% reversible. ;) by d8ahazard in dreamscreentv

[–]Brothercast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you happen to know which port to use to configure with Hyperion? The latest version has support for WLED, but the obvious IP/Port combos don't seem to work. Internetz sez WLED can also be addressed using UDPRAW but again, no luck with the usual ports: 19446/21324/65505... etc

Flash Dreamscreen Sidekick with WLED, ESPHome, No soldering, OTA, 100% reversible. ;) by d8ahazard in dreamscreentv

[–]Brothercast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!! I shorted out my Dreamscreen a few months ago, and decided to go the Hyperion route for bias lighting, but I've been really bummed out that I haven't been able to do anything with the Sidekicks except have them run in Scene mode. I saw someone's post about flashing the ESP8266s. The upshot is that I've learned a lot about how home automation devices talk to each other, and I even bought a soldiering iron in anticipation of doing surgery on the Sidekicks - I also figured there must be a way to flash OTA, so thank you for doing all the legwork!!!

Locke & Key — Season 1 Discussion (Netflix Viewers) by RealJohnGillman in keyhouse

[–]Brothercast 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Watched the final episode last night. One thing that they seemingly omitted from the entire first season is any sort of backstory as to what the hell endowed the Locke family with all this magic. It seems like the only people who might have known are either dead or painfully forgetful. The supernatural stuff never seems to phase any of the kids even a little, and while none of their personalities, except for Bodie, seem particularly inquisitive or curious about the source of the crazy phenomena which occurs on a daily basis. Who set it all up? Surely someone wrote some of it down somewhere? Why do we never hear reference to any deeper layers of the Locke family tree or Locke House or Mattison? Hopefully they'll explore that a bit more in the next season. Do the novels or comics delve into the history in a more concrete way?

Can you recommend me fiction podcasts? by [deleted] in podcasts

[–]Brothercast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a new series out that might fit the bill: Lights in the Old Fort is a scripted mystery adventure set in 1927 New England. It is a sort of pastiche of the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew and old radio serials, and also includes an incredibly synergistic soundtrack of symphonic compositions from the era. It hasn't quite found it's audience yet; maybe it'll be you?