An old friend and acquaintance of mine from my years in academia recently published a new book. The book is Story Machines, by Mike Sharples. It’s one that fascinates me because it combines two of the key interests in my life – technology and story telling. I have been involved in educational technology since 1979, and still teach and speak about my research in the area even today. But I have also, as those of you who follow this blog, grown back into my roots as a performance poet and writer. So when Mike’s new book hit the shelves, I was very interested, to put it mildly. In a future blog I will present a review of the book, but before that I want to mention an accompanying resource that Mike has created to promote the book. It’s an artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed to generate short stories. 

One of the questions Mike (with his co-author Rafael Perez Y Perez) poses in his new book is: can computers write stories? Well, that’s a big question and one that is open to debate at all levels, from the technical through to the aesthetic. It’s one I will leave for another occasion. The strap-line of his book ‘How computers have become creative writers’, indicates he believes that there is potential. Computers follow instructions known as code. They are programmed to perform complex functions very quickly and efficiently. A computer program is only as good as its coders. So underlying the strap-line is a great amount of human effort to ensure a computer program functions correctly. It requires testing, and as a simple demonstration, is an example of the Story Machine AI tool:

I entered the story title ‘I am lost’, and then the first line of the story: ‘I am lost in an unfamiliar landscape.’ I tapped the key and waited a few seconds. The AI tool returned with the following:

I am lost in an unfamiliar landscape. I have wandered for hours, and I am tired and hungry. I don’t know where I am, or what to do. I am starting to feel scared. Maybe I’m lost in a forest, or maybe I’m lost in town. I can’t tell. I’m getting really scared. I hear a noise in the distance. It sounds like somebody is coming. Maybe it’s a rescue squad. Maybe it’s the police. Maybe it’s a monster. I don’t know. But I’m definitely scared. The noise gets louder and closer. I start to run. But I trip and fall. I hear the noise getting closer and closer. I can’t get up. I hear the noise getting louder and louder. Then I hear a voice. It’s a kindly voice. It says, “Don’t be scared. I’m here to help you.” It reaches down and helps me up. I look up and I see a kind face. It’s a face I know. It’s a face I love. It’s my father’s face.

Clearly, there is some story telling capability here. The syntax and context are reasonably accurate, and the story has a structure that can be followed. It has description, speculation, mystery and suspense. Whether is is creative, is again open to interpretation, and I suspect there will be a range of reactions to it. Although this is not the happy ending I would have written (I am notorious for twist endings, dark denouements and cliff hangers in my writing), it never the less brings the tale to a conclusion. I tried another:

I entered the title ‘Birthday’, and a first line ‘Today is my 100th birthday.’ The computer returned the following text:

Today is my hundredth birthday. I woke up to an already decorated room, with a big cake and presents. I got teary-eyed as I saw all the love and support my family and friends have shown me. I sat down and started to eat, then got up to open my presents. First I got a card from my grandson, with a picture of him and his mom. Then I opened a beautiful necklace from my daughter and granddaughter. I was so touched, they both knew just what I liked. Next I got a card from my son and his wife with a picture of their new baby. I was so happy, they had waited until the day after my birthday to give me the card. Then I opened a package from my granddaughter with a cake mix and cake mix ingredients. She is so smart and creative, I can’t wait to see what she creates with them. Finally, I got a card from my great-grandson with a picture of him and his mom. I was so happy, he is going to be so proud of his mom when he grows up. As I sat there eating my cake and enjoying everyone’s company, I knew this was the best birthday party ever.

The context is accurate again, and the story is rich in detail about an old person (I didn’t state the gender) who has reached a landmark birthday. When I changed the first line and wrote today is my 10th birthday, the context changed to a child’s birthday party, mentioning parents and young friends. 

I next attempted to string a series of sections together and to add my own additional text to the story. as a flight of fancy I came up with the title ‘Captain Disposable’. He’s not exactly a Marvel superhero, but he thinks he is! Over a series of inputs, working in conjunction with the AI tool, I managed to cobble together this story:

Captain Disposable

“Could you tell me how to get to Scarborough?” asked the old man.