Originally posted on Folio Red, which is why this post references "a new blog".

Pho-gram (n): a false or fanciful image or prose, usually generated by AI*

There’s nothing like a new blog. So much possibility, so much expectation of quality posts shared with the world. It’s like that feeling of a new journal or notebook: you’re almost afraid to sally it with what you think is not worthy of it.

Well, let’s set expectations right now, with a posting of a few AI generated images. 😜

Yes, yes, I know. No one wants to see images from DALL-E and Stable Diffusion that you didn’t make yourself. And yeah, I should acknowledge that these tools have resulted in some real external costs. But there are few that I would like to keep. And maybe if I added some micro-fiction around each one, it would reduce the feeling that I’m simply pushing AI generated junk on the the Internet.

So here’s a bunch of them that I generated for something at work, with a short, non-AI written, back-story for each one.

Martian Production

Since the formation of the New Martian Republic in 2294, much of the media consumed on Mars was a direct import from Earth. And even after the establishment of permanent  settlements, most Martian was more likely to consume something produced on Terra than something home grown. So, in 2351, the United Colonial Martian Government (UCMG) formed the committee to spearhead the development of local media scene. The committee had to come up with a proposal for how to bootstrap the local production  spoken audio, music, the written word, and videography.

In 2353, the first Martian videography production corporation was establish. Originally known as Martian Film House, the corporation was originally devised to produced feature-length film and documentaries, but this soon expanded to include short-form serials and news broadcasts. This culminated in 2354, in what was recorded to be the first Martian-wide video broadcast in what was called Climbing the Tholus Summit. Later, in 2360, as part of the negotiations with Terra Brodcasting, the UCMG organised for the retransmission of all Martian programs back to Earth in exchange for renewing the rights for the carry of all imported visual media.

The current logo, commissioned soon after the name change to Martian Productions, pays homage to those early pioneers exploring Mars back at the turn of the millennium. And although the technology was not sophisticated enough to carry those people to Mars themselves, they were still able to explore it from afar, through the lens of the Martian rovers. One of the most successful, the rover known as Opportunity, was chosen as the company figurehead.

Content Mill Productions

Jeffery knows that to make it on the Internet, content is everything. He who is willing to put in the hard yards, making something of quality, will get the eyeballs, and thus that sweet, sweet ad revenue everyone’s fighting over. Such prospects are more endurable than the failing demand for hand-milled flower that he’s currently engaged in (he still doesn’t understand why he spent so much on that windmill).

But quality will only get you so far. The attention span of those online can now be measured in nanosectonds. People don’t even finish the current TikTok video they’re watching before they swipe on to the next one. No wonder people are going on about three minute videos as being “long-form content”.

So Jeffery had to make a choice. He had to put his desire for quantity aside and start considering ways to simply pump out material. Content has such a dirty ring to it nowadays, but Jeffery disagrees. Compared to what he’s doing now, selling bags of hand-milled flower to no-one, the online content game will be his life-raft, his saviour. 

And after all, quantity begets quality, and content is nothing more than quanity. So wouldn’t that mean content and quality are essentially the same? (he thinks he’s got that right) And maybe with so much content being made under one name, it would be easier for others to find him. Get some of thse eyeballs going his way. Who knows, he may be able to sell an ad or two. Maybe shutdown his current business and go at it full time. Can’t be too many people doing this sort of stuff.

He things it could work. It’s all grist for the mill in the end.

* This is a made up word, thereby itself being a phogram.