Fun with Chat GPT

I don’t know where the AI revolution is taking us, but I don’t want to be the last to embrace new technology

Like many writerly types, I’m not a big fan of ChatGPT and other LLMs of that ilk. I mean, I don’t want AI to create art and write books for me—and don’t get me started on the LibGen debacle. (Yes, my Love & Baseball series was used to train Meta’s whatever, according to the database search shared by The Atlantic.)

Now, if AI wants to give me meal ideas, load the dishwasher or run errands for me while I write, that’d be a different story. I might even harness its power to help me with book marketing ideas 💡. Surely it could be useful in that capacity.

I tend to be a later adopter of new technologies. I was slow to start reading e-books, and only began listening to audiobooks at the end of 2023. I was squarely in the middle of the self-publishing pack, and I STILL haven’t signed up for TikTok (or Snapchat or Bluesky).

But AI is something special. It’s everywhere, and will only continue to grow its presence and capabilities. Because of this, I’m determined to be closer to the leading edge this time.

Lucky for me, as part of my day job, I have access to ChatGPT.edu. It has the advantage of being in a closed ecosystem, so anything I put in stays within ASU without entering the worldwide web, thus protecting university IP or something like that. (That’s how I understand it, anyway.)

I haven’t used it too much yet. After my diabetes diagnosis, I asked it for some appropriate meal ideas—and it was very helpful. After spitting out several ideas, it asked if I wanted a seven-day meal plan.

I also asked it to turn me into a cartoon. This was my favorite of the bunch:

Cartoon me, in a bookstore

This one’s cute, too.

With a coffee ☕️

I told ChatGPT that I had blonde hair and blue eyes, and wanted to wear a denim jacket. It did the rest.

I’m not mad about it. I’m even thinking about asking it to make me an action figure, so I can get in on that Instagram trend I saw today.

One thing I can’t understand, though: the multiple posts that claim em dashes are a tell that AI wrote something.

Em dashes are sprinkled liberally throughout my books—and I guarantee you they were written by me, not by a bot. 🤖

In other news … 🗞️

Eating

Not much changed on my second week with Ozempic. I was still amazed by how NOT hungry I was Thursday (the morning after I took shot No. 2) through Monday. On Sunday, when we ordered pizza, it was bit of a struggle to finish two full slices.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a slightly different story, but I still wasn’t starving or anything even close to it. We stopped at Burger King for dinner Wednesday and I was satisfied with a Whopper Jr and half order of medium fries.

I did wonder if BK has started making Whopper Jrs smaller, because mine looked particularly minuscule. That said, it was enough.

Reading

Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez. I just finished this on Kindle. Perhaps it’s ironic for a romance writer, but I haven’t been reading a lot of romances lately. This one, however, was delightful!

I’m about 40% through Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. This is an audiobook, and I borrowed it through Libby. It’s pretty good so far, so I think I’ll be able to finish it before it’s due. I have 13.5 hours to go in 11 days. Being someone who is NOT a fan of Dickens, I wasn’t sure about a retelling of David Copperfield, but so far, so good.

On a related note, I’m four books ahead on my 2025 reading challenge!

Here’s a peek at my StoryGraph wrap-up graphics for March.

Follow me on StoryGraph.

Crocheting

Q1 of 2025 is in the rear view mirror, so I’m finished with the first panel of my 2025 mood blanket.

I’ve gotten a start on Q2, but I’m a few days behind. Below is what it looks like after 6 days.