Monday 3 July 2017

It's not quite Judgement Day

You may have read about Inspirobot already. If not, a potted summary would be something like: it's an online artificial intelligence (AI) program that is designed solely to generate the sort of motivational quote-and-image combinations that swamp us at every turn these days. You know the sort of thing, you see them everywhere from conference room walls to social media timelines. A few are good. Most are inane. Some, annoyingly, as just truisms. And some are just plain annoying.

But now, Inspirobot takes things to a new level. One click is all is takes to generate a motivational poster, with a short, snappy phrase and a filtered, 'shopped image to reinforce the message. AI is great, right? The future has arrived, right?

Except AI, at least as implemented here, is all about the "A" and not so much about the "I". Either that or Inspirobot has had some form of existential crisis. Because I had a little play with the AI, and here's what I got back (you can click all the pictures for a full-size view):

Things started off okay... ish. I mean, boring ideas aren't great, are they? So it's okay, if a little too on the nose:

Things took a slight left turn after that. I mean, I imagine a pretty face and a tea would help, but they are far from all you need, surely?

Next up, things took a darker turn, with Inspirobot suggesting crime pays. Or at least is rewarded with cake! All reinforced with a nice light, frothy picture.

And then... Inspirobot then went to a much darker place. All you can say is that it would have been even darker if the two phrases had been the other way around. The picture doesn't help either, raising the question of whether the guy with his hands in his pockets had been disposing of the bodies in that lake...

I stopped at this point. And I'd hesitate to call this AI. It's just a random poster generator, surely? For if this is what passes for AI in 2017, to the extent that someone is proud enough of it to put it online for the world to see, we can safely say we are some way away from being enslaved by Skynet.

Anyhoo... if you're bored and have five minutes, why not give Inspirobot a go yourself? You might get something unintentionally funny. Or you might get something a little more sinister...

8 comments:

  1. I don't know whether to laugh or cry; the idea is hilarious but at the same time something inside me has died! Mind you, looking at these results, what a fab metaphor for AI in general. Human imagination is so last century.
    It's late and I'm off to bed soon so I won't play with it now, I may have nightmares. Be sure I'll be having a go in the morning though, and I may have to report back!

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    1. It is quite depressing though I take heart from the fact that, however smart a computer gets, it is still pretty dumb...

      Please do have a go. Would love to hear what it gives you!

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  2. Just had a little play with it. It could be slightly addictive. And I like the little things it says to me personally in between generating posters. Ah, a new friend ;-)

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    1. More than slightly, I'd say. I did start to wonder if the whole thing is just an elaborate exercise to seek how long it can keep users clicking the 'Generate' button...

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  3. I got "If you're angry at being offended, you're ready for love". Hmm. That other place, *whispers* Facebook, is awash with these just now. Ha! my second result reads, "If you can't trap it, you can't sell it." A little InspiroBot self-promotion, perhaps?

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    1. That first one made me laugh - the whole of Twitter must be ready for love then...

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  4. I got "Dont worry about being on time for some fool's virginity,just go for a walk".
    What can you say about that. Will live my life by that motto for a week and see what happens.!!

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    1. Utter genius! A philosophy to live by if ever there was one...

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