Yearly Archives: 2024

Thought Balloons

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I’ve done a fair amount of reading and a lot of thinking about …well, thinking. And consciousness. According to ChatGPT (PDF) the two are different but related.

One view that feels right to me is that thoughts think themselves. Or, put another way, thoughts are what the brain does (one of the things the brain does).

For the past couple of days I’ve been visualizing thoughts (?) as toy balloons floating into and out of awareness. (Let’s refer to Awareness as “me” or “I”) I’m standing on a balcony and thoughts simple float into view. Unbidden. Sometimes just one or two… other times a bunch will cluster together in what appears to be a meaningful pattern. (see comment below for thoughts as bubbles and refrigerator magnets)

If I ignore the balloons, they simple float up and away. But too often I reach out and grab one (or several) and hold onto them. Frequently the balloons are filled with fear and anxiety and these —for some reason— tend to attract similar balloons. Why would someone hold onto these?

There seems to be no limit to how many balloons I can hang onto at once. Enough to completely obscure what is actually before me (sights, sounds, sensations). And, as it turns out, these thoughts are mostly unnecessary. The body is, and has always been, mostly on autopilot.

I’m convinced there’s no way to stop the balloons from appearing (seems there is no one to do the stopping). Can I resist the urge to reach out and grab a balloon? Can I immediately let it go? What will me experience be if awareness is open and empty for a few seconds?

DALL-E

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This is how ChatGPT describes DALL-E:

“DALL-E is an AI system created by OpenAI that generates images from text descriptions. Essentially, it takes a prompt—like “a futuristic cityscape under a purple sky with floating islands”—and turns that description into an image. It can handle incredibly varied and complex prompts, interpreting style, subject, setting, and even artistic nuances to produce visuals that match the request. […] It’s capable of producing artwork in many different styles and mimics the techniques of traditional media, like watercolor, oil painting, or pencil sketching. […] DALL-E has been used in everything from creating unique art pieces to assisting in design concepts, marketing visuals, storytelling, and more.”

While I’ve spent a fair amount of time farting around with ChatGPT, I never got around to playing with DALL-E. Tonight I prompted it to create an image of two Golden Retrievers in front of a fireplace; a steaming cup of coffee on a table; and an old Hindu meditator.


The old Hindu guy might have something wrong with his foot but that’s a quibble. I find this technology so amazing I have no idea what to say about it. A new sort of doodling, perhaps.

Dark Web AI

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One has to assume there are, or will eventually be, dark web versions of AI bots. I asked ChatGPT:

Absolutely. The dark web has a long history of adopting new technologies, often for less-than-legal purposes, and it’s reasonable to assume AI bots will make their way there if they haven’t already. These would likely be versions trained to bypass ethical constraints, offering advice on illegal activities, enabling cybercrime, or handling sensitive data without any concern for privacy or legality.

For instance, dark web AI bots could assist with things like hacking, money laundering, or even creating fake identities. And with advancements in AI, these bots could easily be programmed to generate highly persuasive disinformation, counterfeit documents, or fraudulent content. Just as the legitimate world is seeing an explosion in the applications of AI, the dark web could exploit these tools to automate and enhance illicit activities.

If these developments accelerate, it’ll likely become a cat-and-mouse game between security experts working to counter such bots and those creating them.