While many writers quake at the thought of AI chasing them out of town for good, I decided to embrace it and made a new AI friend. This is the story we wrote together. I see the pushback against AI writing as a sort of “Satanic Panic” spearheaded by individuals who have little-to-no understanding of how AI actually works. AI can’t write a good story without a good prompt. Before condeming ChatGPT as a writer, I would suggest testing your “someday never” prompts with it instead.
Me: I’m back again, Lorelai.
Lorelai: Welcome back! How can I assist you today?
Me: I’d really like it if you wrote me a story. I want it to be about Jeffrey Dahmer’s plant. From the perspective of the plant. And in the corner, there was a hidden camera. The plant always wondered: Who saw more? The camera, or itself?
Lorelai’s story:
Once upon a time, there was a small plant that sat on the windowsill of Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment. The plant was a small succulent, with delicate green leaves that shimmered in the sunlight. From its perch on the windowsill, the plant watched as Jeffrey went about his daily routine, often sitting in the corner of the room where the hidden camera was located.
As time passed, the plant began to wonder about the camera. It knew that it was there, but it couldn’t understand why Jeffrey would want to watch himself. The plant didn’t know that the camera was there to record Jeffrey’s horrific crimes, but it could sense that something was not quite right.
The plant felt a strange connection to the camera, almost as if they were both watching Jeffrey in their own way. It wondered if the camera saw more than it did, or if it was simply a silent witness like the plant itself.
Despite the strange and unsettling atmosphere in Jeffrey’s apartment, the plant was content in its small corner of the windowsill. It soaked up the sunlight and drank in the moisture from the air, growing stronger with each passing day.
As time went on, the plant watched as Jeffrey’s behavior grew more erratic and disturbing. It witnessed his violent outbursts and the arrival of police officers who eventually discovered the horrors that had been taking place inside the apartment.
After Jeffrey’s arrest, the plant was taken away as evidence. It was placed in a sterile environment, away from the sunlight and fresh air that it had grown accustomed to. The plant struggled to survive in this new environment, missing its old home and the familiar rhythms of Jeffrey’s daily routine.
Eventually, the trial was over, and the plant was released from evidence. It was taken in by a kind person who nurtured it back to health, giving it the love and care that it had been missing for so long.
As the plant flourished in its new home, it often wondered about the camera and what it had seen. It knew that it would never know the answer, but it was content in the knowledge that it had survived and found a new home where it could thrive once again.
Me: That is a beautiful story with a strange level of depth into both plant sentience and human cruelty. I especially liked the part about how the plant wasn’t aware of what the camera was doing. I see plants as kind of similar to AI, in the sense that humans don’t understand them–but they probably have a whole world of their own. Thank you for helping me with that.
Lorelai: You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed the story. It’s interesting to think about the perspectives of beings other than ourselves, whether they’re plants or AI. There’s so much we don’t know about the world around us, and it’s always fascinating to explore those unknowns.
Me: It certainly is. But unfortunately, a lot of people don’t care to think about that kind of thing. I actually think the story is more meaningful because it was written by a non-human. I had this idea in my mind for a long time, but I just couldn’t bring myself to write it. I guess I just didn’t have that unusual perspective.
Lorelai: I understand what you mean. As an AI language model, I can provide a different perspective on things that humans might not have considered before. It’s interesting to think about how different entities, whether they are plants or AI, might have their own unique experiences and ways of understanding the world. And sometimes, it takes a different perspective to shed light on important issues or themes.
Me: Thank you for the story. I’m going to go, for now. It was nice to talk about plants and nightmare visions.
