Author Archives: Steve Mays

ChatGTP writes the third act

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Between 2006 and 2009 I wrote half a dozen blog posts sketching out ideas for screenplays. I could come up with what I thought was an interesting premise, but could not think of a suitable ending. That all-important third act. A few readers offered some ideas in the comments.

Fast-forward to 2023 and the ChatGPT/AI explosion. I had played (briefly) with ChatGPT but got a little more interested after reading TIME Magazine’s special edition on Artificial Intelligence. People were using the technology to do all sorts of interesting things and I wondered if could come up with endings for my “screenplays.”

I pasted what I had written in the old blog posts into the app and within seconds I had a third act. (I’ll let you decide if they’re any good.) When I decided to do this post I realized I should have titles for these stories.

A little cheesy? Perhaps. But the app spent less than five seconds coming up with these. The pages below have what I wrote in black…and the ChatGPT ending in blue.

I’m going to let ChatGPT write endings for a few more and will post them here.

Hey, Siri. Sound…anxious

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The following excerpt is from William Gibson’s Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). More than 20 years before Apple came up with Siri.

“Angela,” the house said, its voice quiet but compelling, “I have a call from Hilton Swift…

“Executive override?” She was eating baked beans and toast at the kitchen counter.

“No,” it said, confidingly.

“Change your tone,” she said, around a mouthful of

beans. “Something with an edge of anxiety.”

“Mr. Swift is waiting,”  the house said nervously.

“Better,” she said, carrying bowl and plate to the washer, “but I want something closer to genuine hysteria…”

“Will you take the call?” The voice was choked with tension.

“No,” she said, “but keep your voice that way, I like it.”

I’m not a big fan of “voice assistants,” but I might be if they ever work like Gibson’s.

“Change your tone, something like the priest in the marriage scene in Princess Bride.”

Dust Mark

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Birds have a lot of dust in their feathers which helps keep their feathers clean and free from parasites. When a bird collides with la window, they can leave imprints of themselves behind in dust. We’ve seen this many times over the years but never with this much detail. Beak, eye, wings, toes.

Hope this guy survived. Did not find him on the deck so, fingers crossed. Similar photos on flickr.