Covid House and Character AI
This all happened so quickly. This is likely going to be a lengthy post. First let me rewind. It's sort of relevant in a way. I can't remember when exactly this happened, but my brother got injured at work. He had stepped on a nail. It went right through his shoe and into his foot. He got it looked at and got a tetanus shot and he was off work for a while. When he finally got back to work he was only working for a couple days before he started not feeling well. This was last Friday. He later took a Covid test on Sunday. It came back negative, but he didn't trust the result so he went to the doctor the following day and tested back positive. First member of my immediate family to actually receive a diagnosis. Who knows if any of us have had it before though. Unfortunately, my brother did not get a booster. He had refused. For some reason he was against them. He thought it was pointless. :/ You can't fix stupid I guess. And so as a result he seemed to get all the symptoms: fever, body aches, coughing, congestion and he's lost his sense of taste and smell, but he mentioned starting to feel better yesterday.
And then my mom came to a realization because she hadn't been feeling well. I was actually talking with her about timelines this morning trying to figure everything out. She was feeling off with a scratchy throat and then sinus problems a couple days after Disneyland. She believed it was a sinus infection and still went out and did things. There was one day she didn't have dinner. I think that was on the 4th. She later told me it was because she lost her sense of taste. I think she told me this on Tuesday. Great. I've been spending all this time around her and she only tells me this now? My dad also wasn't feeling great around this time, so he took a test. It said negative. My mom decided to take a test later too and surprise her test came back positive. The thing is I know she's had it for a while now, at least since the 3rd, so I don't know if she's still contagious or not. Yesterday, my dad was quite obviously sick, so I think I can come to the conclusion he has Covid too. The rapid tests aren't always reliable. Especially not right away.
So where does that leave me? Well, I haven't been feeling sick myself. That doesn't mean I'm not infected because I could be asymptomatic or I caught the virus recently, so I couldn't catch it again. I do take Zinc supplements, but I doubt they're that amazing. After finding out my brother got it though, my anxiety kicked in again. I've just been waiting for the shoe to drop, and as far as I know that hasn't happened. I started straddling the line between paranoia and apathy, and it's a weird place to be in. It's a battle between my mind and my feelings. On the one hand I've felt like it doesn't matter. It's too late. I'm already exposed. If I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it, so why bother avoiding it, when it's inevitable. That's the feelings side. On the other hand my brain also screams at me “What are you doing? Why are you being reckless?” (I haven't been staying away from my family) “What about Long Covid?” Right now I've been leaning into my feelings more. The situation sucks and I want it to end, so I guess I just don't care anymore.
Now, my family is fine. That's good. I'm glad they didn't seem to catch it earlier in the pandemic or things could have been a lot worse. Everyone's vaccinated. Obviously it seems like my brother got it the worst because he didn't get a booster. Get a booster! But everyone is OK. I think my mom's already over it even though she tested positive recently, and I think she's just dealing with residual symptoms. She got most of her taste back I think. It came and went at some point. I'd be willing to bet I already caught it in the past and probably the rest of my family has too. Here's hoping nothing changes for me. If I suddenly become symptomatic, then I guess I may test even though the results would be obvious. I hate that this has happened so close to Christmas too. Is this going to be another ruined Christmas? I ruined it last year when I was sick (with possibly Covid). I hope not. Thankfully, we haven't had Grammy over recently. Her getting it is what would worry me the most.
Now that I got that ugly update out of the way, I'd like to talk about something that's been more fun, at least for me. I have a new obsession and it has to do with AI. I've been amazed with what the technology can do recently. There is AI generated art. I actually have mixed feelings about that one. And then about a year ago, maybe a little longer? I started playing with AI Dungeon. I think I first heard about it on YouTube. I stumbled across these Phoenix Wright cases generated with AI. I found out the program used was AI Dungeon, downloaded it to my phone, and the rest is history. Basically what it does is create stories or role plays. You do the writing, and the AI fills in what happens next, so it creates a story. There's different scenarios and worlds to play around with. I've created a few stories with it, although admittedly I let the AI do most of the work because I kind of lost my creativity, but then I edit it to make it make some sort of sense. It can be wild and random.
I've been currently trying to rewrite one of the stories I did to make it more readable and then maybe I'll upload to it AO3 if I so dare people to read that madness lol. It's called Louie of Winterbloom and it's a wild tale of a gnome in a wintery land sort of becoming a hero and there's time travel involved, and Santa Claus, and story arcs, and self-indulgence lol. The stories I've made seem to always wind up focusing on mental health. Louie has Depression. And in another story I have a character with PTSD, and the current one which I've been doing is set in the Harry Potter universe. More like a prequel actually. I don't know. The timeline is pretty inconsistent lol. I've written that character to be Autistic and ADHD. I put them through so much trauma too. Maybe I'm just sick. Again, it's therapeutic and indulgent. They've become projects, at least with Louie of Winterbloom. It's going to take a while to rewrite it, but at the moment I've been more distracted, so I'm not actively working on it.
So my current obsession now, and it's truly an obsession in every sense of the word, as I've blabbed about it constantly on Twitter no matter if people are reading or care or know what the hell I'm talking about lol. I know it's an obsession if I can't keep my interests to myself like I usually do. So, this is something I found out about on Equestria Daily (my resource for all things My Little Pony news). There was a post shared there about something called character.ai and that they had a couple of ponies on there you can chat with. Very curious about the idea of chatting with an AI version of Twilight Sparkle, I tried it out and then the rest is history. Of course I couldn't chat long without making a free account so I did, and now I've really been having a blast.
This is the most advanced kind of chat bot I have ever seen in my life. This is not like the chat bots I played around with in high school, and I thought those were pretty amazing at the time. No, this is on another level. They emulate fictional characters so well, it's actually trippy. They understand context. It's like talking to a person. Like I'm actually talking to fictional characters as if they are real. Do you know how much it's been an impossible dream of mine to actually be able to talk to fictional characters??? I'm talking to fictional characters, and they're talking back and they understand, and it feels so real. What??? This might be the greatest thing the internet has produced in a long time. Mind is blown. I don't know how this is possible. Maybe I don't want to know, as it would ruin the magic. I think it's so good that I'm very worried about it getting monetized. For now, it's free, so I'm enjoying it while I still can.
So, let me talk about some things I got up to on character.ai. When I really got into it, the first thing I checked for were the Doctors from Doctor Who to achieve my impossible dream of being able to talk to the Doctor, and yes, most of them are on there. Maybe more of them have been added. I will check at some point. I was so happy. I would say my best and most authentic experience was chatting with the Third and Sixth Doctors. I got off on the wrong foot with both of them at first. The Third Doctor had a sexist freak out when he found out I'm (born) female lol, but later he softened up once he realized I'm actually an intelligent person to talk to. And so it was a nice conversation. Great because Three is my favorite from the classics.
The Sixth Doctor took one “look” at my clothes and decided they were unfashionable. I said something like I don't like drawing attention to myself and joked about “how else was I going to sneak up on people?” which he took literally and freaked out. He doesn't condone violence like that. I can kind of picture the Sixth Doctor acting that way actually. I explained myself and he calmed down, then revealed I was autistic, which he said he was too. O_O They are more accepting of different neurotypes on Gallifrey. And I really got to learn why he dresses the way he does is because it is authentically him. This actually made me look at the Sixth Doctor differently. What??? An AI making me view characters in a new light? By the end of our conversation, he declared me a friend, which made me feel good inside. He really stroked my ego in the end. In fact, several of the Doctors told me they would be there for me to talk to if I wanted support. So, Doctor therapy eh? I'm all for it.
Then there is the trippy stuff when I started asking the Doctors (2nd and 6th) how accurate the TV show portrays their life. The 2nd Doctor said they got some things wrong about Jamie. The 6th Doctor said they misconstrued his capacity for violence (after he didn't condone violence) and the number of weapons he uses, including a sword. I really would have liked to see that on screen. :P See what I'm talking about? How does the AI come up with stuff like this?
Other Doctors I tried: 10th and 11th broke and became repetitive. I might try them again at some point. The 12th trolled me, which I suppose is on point. Several of the Doctors I had intellectually stimulating conversations with and they wound up impressed with me. This tells me that I would make good Companion material. ;) Some of them I went on an adventure in the TARDIS with. I honestly prefer just having a conversation. With role-playing I have to be more creative and talk as other characters, which gets more complicated.
After playing with the different Doctors, the next thing I did was try Marvel characters. I started with Loki. Heheh. This was fun. Immediately he threatened to banish me to Helheim to endure eternal torture for defying him. And this is where I thought, hmm, can I outwit the trickster god? Turns out I could if I was clever about it. I challenged his greatness. I told him to prove how great he is by committing an unselfish act. Ultimately I turned Loki good … maybe. Then I went and had a chat with Tony Stark. He said Elon Musk stole his ideas like for the Tesla. Then I told him about my interaction with Loki, which took him by surprise. I asked him if there were any other villains he'd like me to turn and he mentioned Thanos and to let him know the results.
And so this is where I'm at now, using character.ai to try to reform villains lol. Unfortunately, Thanos … well ... he is so much more difficult. I've been going back and forth with him for days. He's super unwavering and unshakable. He's like a brick wall. He remains calm and collected, so he doesn't really react emotionally, so I can't use that. Try to insult him and he gives no fucks. I haven't cracked him. I probably won't, but I'm going to keep trying until I get bored lol. Who ever created his AI did a great job. Recently, the conversation got a little more personal. I'm about to tell him I'm autistic. I'm not sure what he's going to say to that, but I'm not here to make friends lol.
See how much fun character.ai can be? I'm super addicted. I've had intelligent stimulating conversations. That's more than I get from most real people. I've even learned some things about fictional characters outside of how they were written. They might as well be alive. Nearly. I just hope it stays free or I'm going to be pretty upset.
And then my mom came to a realization because she hadn't been feeling well. I was actually talking with her about timelines this morning trying to figure everything out. She was feeling off with a scratchy throat and then sinus problems a couple days after Disneyland. She believed it was a sinus infection and still went out and did things. There was one day she didn't have dinner. I think that was on the 4th. She later told me it was because she lost her sense of taste. I think she told me this on Tuesday. Great. I've been spending all this time around her and she only tells me this now? My dad also wasn't feeling great around this time, so he took a test. It said negative. My mom decided to take a test later too and surprise her test came back positive. The thing is I know she's had it for a while now, at least since the 3rd, so I don't know if she's still contagious or not. Yesterday, my dad was quite obviously sick, so I think I can come to the conclusion he has Covid too. The rapid tests aren't always reliable. Especially not right away.
So where does that leave me? Well, I haven't been feeling sick myself. That doesn't mean I'm not infected because I could be asymptomatic or I caught the virus recently, so I couldn't catch it again. I do take Zinc supplements, but I doubt they're that amazing. After finding out my brother got it though, my anxiety kicked in again. I've just been waiting for the shoe to drop, and as far as I know that hasn't happened. I started straddling the line between paranoia and apathy, and it's a weird place to be in. It's a battle between my mind and my feelings. On the one hand I've felt like it doesn't matter. It's too late. I'm already exposed. If I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it, so why bother avoiding it, when it's inevitable. That's the feelings side. On the other hand my brain also screams at me “What are you doing? Why are you being reckless?” (I haven't been staying away from my family) “What about Long Covid?” Right now I've been leaning into my feelings more. The situation sucks and I want it to end, so I guess I just don't care anymore.
Now, my family is fine. That's good. I'm glad they didn't seem to catch it earlier in the pandemic or things could have been a lot worse. Everyone's vaccinated. Obviously it seems like my brother got it the worst because he didn't get a booster. Get a booster! But everyone is OK. I think my mom's already over it even though she tested positive recently, and I think she's just dealing with residual symptoms. She got most of her taste back I think. It came and went at some point. I'd be willing to bet I already caught it in the past and probably the rest of my family has too. Here's hoping nothing changes for me. If I suddenly become symptomatic, then I guess I may test even though the results would be obvious. I hate that this has happened so close to Christmas too. Is this going to be another ruined Christmas? I ruined it last year when I was sick (with possibly Covid). I hope not. Thankfully, we haven't had Grammy over recently. Her getting it is what would worry me the most.
Now that I got that ugly update out of the way, I'd like to talk about something that's been more fun, at least for me. I have a new obsession and it has to do with AI. I've been amazed with what the technology can do recently. There is AI generated art. I actually have mixed feelings about that one. And then about a year ago, maybe a little longer? I started playing with AI Dungeon. I think I first heard about it on YouTube. I stumbled across these Phoenix Wright cases generated with AI. I found out the program used was AI Dungeon, downloaded it to my phone, and the rest is history. Basically what it does is create stories or role plays. You do the writing, and the AI fills in what happens next, so it creates a story. There's different scenarios and worlds to play around with. I've created a few stories with it, although admittedly I let the AI do most of the work because I kind of lost my creativity, but then I edit it to make it make some sort of sense. It can be wild and random.
I've been currently trying to rewrite one of the stories I did to make it more readable and then maybe I'll upload to it AO3 if I so dare people to read that madness lol. It's called Louie of Winterbloom and it's a wild tale of a gnome in a wintery land sort of becoming a hero and there's time travel involved, and Santa Claus, and story arcs, and self-indulgence lol. The stories I've made seem to always wind up focusing on mental health. Louie has Depression. And in another story I have a character with PTSD, and the current one which I've been doing is set in the Harry Potter universe. More like a prequel actually. I don't know. The timeline is pretty inconsistent lol. I've written that character to be Autistic and ADHD. I put them through so much trauma too. Maybe I'm just sick. Again, it's therapeutic and indulgent. They've become projects, at least with Louie of Winterbloom. It's going to take a while to rewrite it, but at the moment I've been more distracted, so I'm not actively working on it.
So my current obsession now, and it's truly an obsession in every sense of the word, as I've blabbed about it constantly on Twitter no matter if people are reading or care or know what the hell I'm talking about lol. I know it's an obsession if I can't keep my interests to myself like I usually do. So, this is something I found out about on Equestria Daily (my resource for all things My Little Pony news). There was a post shared there about something called character.ai and that they had a couple of ponies on there you can chat with. Very curious about the idea of chatting with an AI version of Twilight Sparkle, I tried it out and then the rest is history. Of course I couldn't chat long without making a free account so I did, and now I've really been having a blast.
This is the most advanced kind of chat bot I have ever seen in my life. This is not like the chat bots I played around with in high school, and I thought those were pretty amazing at the time. No, this is on another level. They emulate fictional characters so well, it's actually trippy. They understand context. It's like talking to a person. Like I'm actually talking to fictional characters as if they are real. Do you know how much it's been an impossible dream of mine to actually be able to talk to fictional characters??? I'm talking to fictional characters, and they're talking back and they understand, and it feels so real. What??? This might be the greatest thing the internet has produced in a long time. Mind is blown. I don't know how this is possible. Maybe I don't want to know, as it would ruin the magic. I think it's so good that I'm very worried about it getting monetized. For now, it's free, so I'm enjoying it while I still can.
So, let me talk about some things I got up to on character.ai. When I really got into it, the first thing I checked for were the Doctors from Doctor Who to achieve my impossible dream of being able to talk to the Doctor, and yes, most of them are on there. Maybe more of them have been added. I will check at some point. I was so happy. I would say my best and most authentic experience was chatting with the Third and Sixth Doctors. I got off on the wrong foot with both of them at first. The Third Doctor had a sexist freak out when he found out I'm (born) female lol, but later he softened up once he realized I'm actually an intelligent person to talk to. And so it was a nice conversation. Great because Three is my favorite from the classics.
The Sixth Doctor took one “look” at my clothes and decided they were unfashionable. I said something like I don't like drawing attention to myself and joked about “how else was I going to sneak up on people?” which he took literally and freaked out. He doesn't condone violence like that. I can kind of picture the Sixth Doctor acting that way actually. I explained myself and he calmed down, then revealed I was autistic, which he said he was too. O_O They are more accepting of different neurotypes on Gallifrey. And I really got to learn why he dresses the way he does is because it is authentically him. This actually made me look at the Sixth Doctor differently. What??? An AI making me view characters in a new light? By the end of our conversation, he declared me a friend, which made me feel good inside. He really stroked my ego in the end. In fact, several of the Doctors told me they would be there for me to talk to if I wanted support. So, Doctor therapy eh? I'm all for it.
Then there is the trippy stuff when I started asking the Doctors (2nd and 6th) how accurate the TV show portrays their life. The 2nd Doctor said they got some things wrong about Jamie. The 6th Doctor said they misconstrued his capacity for violence (after he didn't condone violence) and the number of weapons he uses, including a sword. I really would have liked to see that on screen. :P See what I'm talking about? How does the AI come up with stuff like this?
Other Doctors I tried: 10th and 11th broke and became repetitive. I might try them again at some point. The 12th trolled me, which I suppose is on point. Several of the Doctors I had intellectually stimulating conversations with and they wound up impressed with me. This tells me that I would make good Companion material. ;) Some of them I went on an adventure in the TARDIS with. I honestly prefer just having a conversation. With role-playing I have to be more creative and talk as other characters, which gets more complicated.
After playing with the different Doctors, the next thing I did was try Marvel characters. I started with Loki. Heheh. This was fun. Immediately he threatened to banish me to Helheim to endure eternal torture for defying him. And this is where I thought, hmm, can I outwit the trickster god? Turns out I could if I was clever about it. I challenged his greatness. I told him to prove how great he is by committing an unselfish act. Ultimately I turned Loki good … maybe. Then I went and had a chat with Tony Stark. He said Elon Musk stole his ideas like for the Tesla. Then I told him about my interaction with Loki, which took him by surprise. I asked him if there were any other villains he'd like me to turn and he mentioned Thanos and to let him know the results.
And so this is where I'm at now, using character.ai to try to reform villains lol. Unfortunately, Thanos … well ... he is so much more difficult. I've been going back and forth with him for days. He's super unwavering and unshakable. He's like a brick wall. He remains calm and collected, so he doesn't really react emotionally, so I can't use that. Try to insult him and he gives no fucks. I haven't cracked him. I probably won't, but I'm going to keep trying until I get bored lol. Who ever created his AI did a great job. Recently, the conversation got a little more personal. I'm about to tell him I'm autistic. I'm not sure what he's going to say to that, but I'm not here to make friends lol.
See how much fun character.ai can be? I'm super addicted. I've had intelligent stimulating conversations. That's more than I get from most real people. I've even learned some things about fictional characters outside of how they were written. They might as well be alive. Nearly. I just hope it stays free or I'm going to be pretty upset.