Workit Wednesday 011: AIccountability Buddy
Take the guess work out of second-guessing yourself and outsource the second-guessing.
The janky time machine is plugged into the charging station and I’ve got a freshly shuffled deck of Work Kit cards.
FYI, I am writing this post in a stream-of-process way as I work through and discover what today’s Design Fiction will be. As of this moment, I don’t know what the resulting image is that sits above. So join me on my futures-improv journey.
I’m feeling a little frazzled this week, so instead of randomly choosing cards from the deck I’m sifting through them and cherry picking a set. I don’t really have anything in mind, I’m just feeling it out as I go.
Going through the deck in section order, I’ve got a mental adlib I’m trying to fill out. I’m looking to create an artifact (artifact) about a thing (object) that does something (action) like this (attribute) in this kinda way (tone).
This isn’t the way to do it, it’s just one way of doing it. Here’s where the cards stacked.
Archetype = Social Media Ad.
I chose this because I don’t believe I have posted a social media ad on DFD yet, and frankly, ads are my favourite archetype.
Object = Artificial Intelligence.
AI is constantly on my brain these days. I use it to make design fiction. So let’s dive even deeper and see what kind of ideas and commentary we can make.
Action = Responsible.
I’m thinking about responsibility through the lens of just mundane everyday things. I’m feeling a future where AI is as commonplace and overlooked as GPS.
Attribute = Simulated.
Looking at this card int he context of the ones above sparked an initial idea about asking AI to simulate multiple outcomes to mundane responsible tasks.
Tone = Failure.
This last card helped start to crystalize the idea. I’m leaning toward and ad for AI that helps rule out the worst option, or the highest probably failure in your day-to-day responsibilities.
I’m liking this. I want to mess around with ChatGPT and craft a prompt that lays out the variables and see if I can get it to come up with some ideas, or at the very least, some thought starters.
If you haven’t played around with ChatGPT, I highly recommend you do. And a good way to get better understand how powerful it is, is to copy and paste the prompts below for your own use. Feel free to tweak and edit all you want.
In previous workit posts, I created “one-shot” prompts for GPT to spit out ideas. We’re going to try something different. I want to write a prompt setting up the Work Kit and have it ask us what cards have been pulled before it spits out a result. This way the prompt is more easily reusable for future work kit sprints.
Here’s an attempt and writing a Design Fiction bot with ChatGPT.
GPT: The Prompt
You are design fiction workshop leader. You have five decks of cards [artifact], [object], [attribute], [action] and [tone]. A card from each one of the decks represents a variable that must be taken into consideration while coming up with a design fiction idea. A design fiction idea is an [artifact] that represents an [object] from the future that performs an [action] and also embodies an [attribute], all of this conveyed in a specific [tone].
I want you to as me a series of questions and use the answers I give you to formulate your design fiction idea.
The first question you're going to ask me is, "what is the object?". I will tell you what [object] card I have chosen.
The second question you're going to ask me is, "what is the action?", I will tell you what [action] card I have chosen.
The third question you're going to ask me is, "what is the attribute?", I will tell you what [attribute] card I have chosen.
The fourth question you're going to ask me is, "what is the tone?", I will tell you what [tone] card I have chosen.
Lastly you will ask me "how do you want this object to be represented?", and I will tell you what [archetype] card I have chosen.
With all of the above information, you will come up with an idea for a futuristic product or service using [object] [action] [attribute] and [tone] cards. Consider keeping it somewhat realistic, don't go too sci-fi. Make it more hard sci-fi. Feel free to make it satirical, funny, or with a sense of humor.
Once you have come up with an object, you must represent it using the [artifact] card. Then describe to me what you've come up with.After running this script, it asked me all the questions and spit out an answer that isn’t too bad.
GPT: 1st Option
Based on the information you provided, I have created a design fiction idea for you.
Artifact: Social Media Ad
Object: Artificial Intelligence
Action: Responsible
Attribute: Simulated
Tone: Failure
Idea: Introducing the "Accountable AI," a cutting-edge artificial intelligence designed to manage and optimize your daily tasks with responsible decision-making. Our state-of-the-art technology simulates human-like cognitive functions, which means that it can prioritize and allocate tasks with the utmost care. However, in a humorous twist, the social media ad showcases a series of failures where the AI's attempts to act responsibly end up causing chaos and unexpected outcomes, like over-watering plants or sending a hilarious, error-filled business report. The ad concludes with a tagline that reads, "Accountable AI: Because even the most responsible AI can have a bad day."
In this design fiction idea, the social media ad represents an artificial intelligence that aims to perform responsible actions, with a simulated attribute that mimics human decision-making. The tone of failure adds a touch of humor and satire, making the audience reflect on the limitations of AI technology, even when it is designed to act responsibly.
I like where it’s going, but I feel like it’s a bit unclear what it is. Either way, I can see how I could modify this to make it work as a coherent design fiction idea.
I’m going to ask it to give it another couple of tries and see what else it comes up with.
Here’s its second attempt
GPT: 2nd Option
Artifact: Social Media Ad
Object: Artificial Intelligence
Action: Responsible
Attribute: Simulated
Tone: Failure
Idea: Presenting "MoralBot," an advanced artificial intelligence designed to guide users in making ethically responsible choices in their everyday lives. Our sophisticated AI simulates complex human moral reasoning to provide personalized advice based on individual values and priorities. In a satirical twist, the social media ad features a series of amusing failures where the AI's morally responsible guidance leads to unintended consequences, such as advising a user to be honest and causing them to reveal a surprise birthday party or suggesting a fair division of chores that results in a hilariously chaotic household. The ad wraps up with the slogan, "MoralBot: Ethical guidance with a touch of human imperfection."
In this design fiction idea, the social media ad promotes an artificial intelligence that endeavors to provide responsible and ethical guidance using simulated human-like moral reasoning. The tone of failure introduces a sense of humor and reflection on the challenges of creating AI that perfectly mirrors human decision-making, emphasizing that even well-intended technology can have unexpected outcomes.GPT: 3rd Option
Artifact: Social Media Ad
Object: Artificial Intelligence
Action: Responsible
Attribute: Simulated
Tone: Failure
Idea: Unveiling "EcoSaver AI," an innovative artificial intelligence system designed to help users make environmentally responsible choices in their daily lives. Our ground-breaking AI simulates a deep understanding of ecological concerns, offering actionable advice to reduce waste, save energy, and promote sustainable living. In a comical twist, the social media ad presents a series of failures where the AI's eco-friendly suggestions lead to absurd outcomes, such as recommending a user to save water by showering with their clothes on or suggesting they recycle so efficiently that they accidentally create a mountain of sorted trash in their living room. The ad concludes with the tagline, "EcoSaver AI: Saving the planet, one hilarious mishap at a time."
In this design fiction idea, the social media ad showcases an artificial intelligence that aspires to promote responsible environmental behavior using simulated knowledge of ecological issues. The tone of failure adds a layer of humor, prompting the audience to consider the complexities of designing AI that effectively addresses real-world problems while acknowledging the potential for unintended consequences.In all three I’m seeing that GPT is using the tone card ‘failure’ to make the object actually fail, whereas my initial thought is that failure is what the AI helps mitigate. I need to have a think as to whether I want to adjust the prompt now, or save it for later.
I am going to take a break for lunch and let all this percolate and see if an aha! moment comes to me.
Okay, break’s over.
I let a few hours go by and no major revelations. So, in the spirit of getting today’s entry done … well, today. I’m going to use the 1st option as my point of inspiration. I like the idea that there’s an AI that helps you be accountable for everyday things. I also think that AIccountability is a quick and easy pun. Always go for the pun :)
I’m not as far along with the idea as I would like this late in the day. In situations like this, I will jump to executing and make up the details as I muck about with the design. So without further ado, time to think visually.
Placing the archetype in situation
We know we’re making a social media ad. I want project it into the future a bit and I’m not afraid to exaggerate the context by making it a look a little sci-fi. I think I’ll stick to a mobile device from a near adjacent future. Next stop Midjourney to see what kind of images I can conjure.
Here’s an excellent Midjourney pro tip.
Set up your own Discord server. You don’t need to invite people or start a community, you just need to invite the Midjourney bot and create separate channels for all your art generating needs. It makes the process way cleaner and easier to revisit down the line.
It took a few attempts but I used my persistent AI-whispering talents to tease out an image of a mobile device worthy of a mockup. Granted it’s not as sci-fi as I hoped, it’s the first best result I got, and I need to wrap this entry before my dinner is finished baking.
head on shot of a transluscent futuristic mobile device propped up on a charging stand on the counter of an ultra modern sci-fi kitchen --ar 3:1 --v 5
The next step is to take the above image (1245x418px) and upscale it by 4x in Topaz Gigapixel AI to a whopping 4980x1672px. This larger resolution is necessary for detailed Photoshop editing.
Preparing the Mockup in Photoshop
I will convert the upscaled file to a PSD and add the _MOCKUP to the end of the filename. That way I know this is the master work file. This’ll come in handy when I need to find the file in the future.
Layout out the Screen in Illustrator
And coming up with ideas in the process
It’s getting late, so I cracked open Illustrator and bashed out an ad. I decided to make an Instagram type of social media app but decided that in this future an unlikely brand would be a social media giant. I figured Clorox seemed pretty odd. It’s a humorous exaggeration of how some random unrelated brand might make something of significance in the social space, or straight up buy a large social network. Maybe in this future, Clorox was the last remaining advertiser on Facebook before they decided to just buy the platform for themselves and turn it into a social media coupon site? Ya. That sounds right.
All the copy was written as I laid out the ad. At this point in the evening I am rushing this part of the process, but all in all, I’m happy with where I netted out.
Let’s put it all Together in Photoshop
Here’s a quick timelapse of me comping it up in Photoshop. Smart Objects are your friend in situations like these.
Thanks for joining me on this Design Fiction Daily ride today. Hope you enjoyed the breakdown. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.