I recorded an episode for the Audiobook Cafe podcast a few weeks back that I really enjoyed. The host, Jacob Shymanski, made a point that really hit home, regarding especially my AI lore book series. Namely, that they are like sketches or studies. They are not formally “finished” or polished or remotely perfect works. They are, in fact, deeply flawed and strange. And executed quickly in order to take advantage of and document the state of the tools used and my own thinking and creative process using them in that moment.

What I’ve done with AI music, and with media coverage around AI-related “mysteries,” I also see more or less the same way: as something like case studies, as answers to a series of what ifs that I pose to myself, and to others. Namely, what if someone else (or many someone elses) comes along and does what I did, but better – or what if they did it extremely maliciously? (Instead of merely mischievously like I have done, to capitalize on the absurdity of it all.)

Within that, I don’t offer definitive answers, explanations, or assertions. I’m not selling anything you have to believe in. I prefer if you don’t. I prefer if you make your own studies and sketches, but for better or worse, here are mine…