Robot Planet: One Approach to Augmented Storytelling

Introduction

At six, Morgan Bennett Forbush appears to be on her way toward a possible career as a writer, artist, or both, as our evolving tools are likely to encourage her to be. She is already reading books with chapters, which is regarded as a milestone in first-grade classrooms. She has a remarkable ability to create stories based on characters she creates from Legos blocks. The time seemed right to introduce her to the combined power of ChatGPT and DALL-E as they are now integrated by OpenAI for $20 per month.

First Prompt

Morgan has created a stable of a half-dozen characters in Lego entirely on her own. For more than a half-hour, I videotaped her creation of scenes and action for these characters. Then I opened ChatGPT and started asking Morgan questions, prompting her to flesh out the story by further developing her characters and generating plots. As she dictated, I typed, making changes as we went along. I paid little attention to mispellings, punctuation, and grammar. Errors come out “in the wash” of ChatGPT.

Robot Planet is far away in another galaxy. Past Mars. It's very different from earth. The streets have electricity and so power the robots wherever they go. Mrs. Fly is a flying robot who uses her crane to pick up things from the air. MoveIt carries things from place to place. Mr. Sunlight powers the planet. He’s at the enter of a huge spinning windmill and is assisted by the Color Team. Sensor senses things with his head. When he senses something he pulls it out of the ground and puts it on his back. He has treads instead of wheels. Mr VroomZoom is a robot race car. All of the robots get together to build a gate but the gate falls down so the workers must came back to rebuild it. The Nimble Dimble are the bad guys. They leave the planet.

After providing all of that as background and context, we commanded ChatGPT-4 to:

Write a five minute story with a happy ending.

Here’s what ChatGPT produced:

In a far-off galaxy, beyond the red plains of Mars, lies a unique and wondrous world known as Robot Planet. This is a place where the ordinary laws of Earth do not apply, and where the streets themselves are alive with energy and purpose. These streets, lined with electricity, move the robots that inhabit this planet, sensing their needs and guiding them through their daily tasks.

Among these remarkable robots is Mrs. Fly, a graceful, flying robot with a crane that allows her to pluck objects from the air with ease. She shares her world with MoveIt, a strong and diligent robot whose sole purpose is to transport things from one place to another. The Color Team, vibrant and lively, assists Mr. Sunlight, the heart of a giant windmill. This windmill, with Mr. Sunlight at its peak, spins tirelessly to generate the energy that powers the entire planet.

Sensor, a robot with an extraordinary ability to detect objects, uses his head to sense things hidden beneath the ground. Upon discovering something, he skillfully extracts it and secures it on his back, his wheels leaving deep tracks wherever he goes. Then there's Mr. VroomZoom, the fastest of them all, a robot race car that zips around with incredible speed and agility.

One day, these robotic inhabitants came together with a common goal: to build a grand gate that would stand as a symbol of their unity and ingenuity. However, as they neared completion, an unexpected event occurred – the gate collapsed, sending waves of disappointment through the community. Undeterred, the workers, committed to their task, returned to rebuild the gate, demonstrating their resilience and teamwork.

But not all was harmonious on Robot Planet. The Nimble Dimbles, known as the troublemakers of this robotic world, decided to leave the planet, tired of their mischievous ways not being appreciated. Their departure, however, brought an unexpected sense of peace and harmony to the planet.

With the Nimble Dimbles gone, the robots found new strength in their unity. Together, they rebuilt the gate, stronger and more magnificent than before. This time, as they stood back to admire their work, the gate stood firm, a testament to their perseverance and cooperation.

As the windmill spun and Mr. Sunlight beamed down, the robots of Robot Planet celebrated their achievement. They realized that even in the face of adversity, their combined efforts could overcome any obstacle. And so, Robot Planet became a beacon of hope and collaboration, a shining example of what can be achieved when everyone works together for a common good.

As I read this aloud to Morgan, her face beamed with delight. This was her story augmented by AI — but there was more to come.

Creating a Story Board

We wanted to know what ChatGPT and DALL-E, working together, to imagine what Robot Planet looks like base on Morgan’s description. Here’s the best of the images it generated.

We asked ChatGPT to describe how DALL-E does this.

”DALL-E translates language into visual art by understanding the text, using its extensive training to identify relevant visual elements, and employing sophisticated AI techniques to generate images that align with the textual description.”

“DALL-E analyzes first analyzed the text, recognizing ‘robot’ and ‘planet’ as the key terms involved. The term ‘robot’ suggests artificial intelligence, mechanical design, and possibly humanoid or mechanical forms. ‘Planet’ brings to mind celestial bodies, space, and perhaps extraterrestrial landscapes.

“For ‘robots,’ DALLE recalled images of mechanical beings, metal structures, and futuristic designs. For ‘planet,’ it created a planetary landscape with a horizon line, clouds, and a background with green hills.

“The AI's advanced capabilities allow it to render these elements in a cohesive and visually appealing manner. It balances the composition, color, and lighting to create an image that is not only aligned with the textual description but also aesthetically pleasing.”

Augmented Characters

Based on the shapes of the characters she’d created in Legos, Morgan had a clear idea of each’s main features and roles they play in the story. One by one, I asked Morgan to detail what each looked like and the settings in which she wanted to see them perform their main functions.

These are the the most compelling of the images DALL-E generated. Some of these, such as Mrs. Fly, required as many as a dozen refinements as we zeroed in on the exact representation we wanted. It took a half-dozen tries to get DALL-E to attach the crane to Mrs. Fly’s back, but it finally got there. It’s easy to imagine these in full animation.

Augmented People

By becoming expert in tools that augment our abilities, we augment ourselves as people. These tools expand our memories by making the resources of the much of the web instantly accessible. They also enable us to organize, summarize, and illustrate content as never before. Stanford futurist Bob Johansen is now asking leaders: “How do you want to be augmented?” That’s a question we all need to ask ourselves — and our children.