Tag Archives: AI

Sci-Fi Short Story: Mass Production

Posted by Grim Jim on

The frame descended from its cradle and set down upon the ground in an easy, loose-limbed stance.

Unnaturally still, it was a foreboding presence, even without a controller. Sleek and deadly, its blank eyes stared out into space, and its matte surface seemed to blur its edges into the shade of the dimly lit room.

“This,” said the Tech-Sergeant“, is a model M-33 teletrooper. State-of-the-art Marine issue with sealed armour and amphibious capability. The chassis will withstand sustained assault rifle fire and can deflect a .50 calibre shell. It has a responsive neural-network interface that allows it to learn how you operate, and vice versa. The camera array has a threat recognition and alert system with a 360-degree field of vision, thermography, low-light and penetrating radar overlays. It’s about as strong as three men, and the on-board fuel cells can keep it operating in the field for twenty-four hours without resupply. With a backpack fuel pod or standby mode, this activity profile can be considerably elevated. Each unit is armed with built-in bladed weapons and an arm-mounted sidearm fed from a hopper containing a hundred rounds of nine-millimetre shells. It can be armed with a variety of weapons, but the standard issue is the MR-2 modular assault system. One of these babies sets back the Alliance military fund around fifty million ameros. Any questions?”

The slouching wiseacre at the back of the pack stood up straight and raised his hand. “If these things are so fucking badass, why aren’t we winning, Sarge?”

There were gasps from the other inductees, but to their surprise, the tech-sergeant didn’t bawl the guy out; he just reached across himself and idly itched at the stump of his left arm with his fingers and then fixed the mouth with a thousand-yard stare.

“Because, son, raising a kid to fighting age and handing them a century-old AK-47 only costs about a thousand.”

#TTRPG – Rapid Prototyping – How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (AI)

Posted by grimachu on

I have continued to wrestle with the implications of AI in my industry (tabletop RPG design) given that AI both threatens art and writing. The technology may not quite be there yet, but with every iteration and update the software gets better at hands and better at checking its own work.

I don’t want artists to be made redundant.

I don’t want my work as a writer and designer to become redundant.

I want to continue to employ artists and writers as well.

Things are further complicated by the various stances of companies such as Paizo, DrivethruRPG and others. There’s a great deal of hostility on both sides of the argument, between the Cult of the Machine on the one hand and the neo-Luddites on the other.

Ultimately, in a business with margins as narrow as the TTRPG industry, AI is always going to be a temptation. I have zero reservations about using AI to produce YouTube thumbnails and other, similar ephemera like live stream backgrounds or blog art, but when it comes to illustrating books things become a bit more complicated.

Other small press companies are using AI to great effect. Before The Red Room were shitcanned by DTRPG they used a mix of art, often a lot of it AI, which enabled them to rapidly produce material and to earn a great deal of money compared to other small companies (according to the public details). In no small part they were able (and are able to) produce content at such a rapid pace because they don’t have to necessarily wait for art. Other small publishers have followed suit.

If I am to compete (in the general rather than the specific sense) I have to follow that path, to at least some extent. If I can turn out product more swiftly and at reduced costs, I can make more money, and more profit, and invest that profit into the products I have a lot of faith in.

Yet I don’t want to go all the way that way either.

So I’ve decided to double-down on the ‘Radical Centrism’ on this topic. I’ll use AI where it makes sense to do so – filler pieces of art, rounding out what I have to add richness and quality to work. I’ll also use AI on projects where I think there’s less potential popularity, less potential profit and where I might not have otherwise been able to make the project viable. These projects, tester projects, will be tagged or in sections called ‘Rapid Prototype’/ If those projects become sufficiently popular, I’ll then return to them and give them the full, proper treatment in a proper edition.

Main works will still be predominantly human-driven.

We’re all struggling with this and figuring out where we want to be with it all, how to integrate it without undermining human creativity. Hopefully this is a step on that path.

#DnD – Messing Around with AI to Create Stupid D&D Monsters: The Allama

Posted by grimachu on

Allama

Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class 11
Hit Points 22 (4d8 + 4)
Speed 40 ft.

STR 14 (+2) DEX 10 (+0) CON 12 (+1) INT 2 (-4) WIS 11 (+0) CHA 5 (-3)

Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages –
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Scream. When the Allama spots an intruder, it can let out a loud scream that can be heard up to 300 feet away. Any creatures within 60 feet of the Allama when it screams must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.

Sure-Footed. The Allama has advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws made against effects that would knock it prone.

Actions

Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage (1/10 Allamas have horns doing 1d10+2 piercing damage).

Spit. Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, range 10/30 ft., one target. Hit: 1 bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turn.

Appearance

Allamas are large, woolly beasts resembling llamas with sturdy builds and shaggy coats. They have keen eyesight and a loud voice, making them ideal guardians for herds or homesteads. When an Allama spots an intruder, it will let out a loud scream that can be heard for miles around.