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  • John Aitchison

Every writer thinks they have a book in them. I think I have several. And several screenplays. Finding the time to work on them is the main issue. But, some very clever people out there in Technology Land have been hard at work to change that. Using MidJourney, an AI tool that creates images using written prompts, I've been able to light a rocket under the arse of my own projects. When I first heard about it, I assumed the industry had been overrun by affable northerners, 'ay-aye' *badoom-tish*. Terrible dad jokes aside, at the moment MidJourney provides results with mixed success, but the future looks incredibly exciting... and terrifying for traditional image creators. The old saying goes, 'a picture paints a thousand words', but maybe it should evolve to be 'a handful of words paint a thousand pictures'.

‘Fraser’s Flight School’ is a series of adventure books about a boy (named after my son) who learns as he travels. With his trusty pilot Priya at the helm, the world is his oyster (just don’t mention their carbon footprint). The series of images were created using the prompts, ‘young boy, aeroplane pilot, Parisian landmarks visible in the background. Premium children’s illustration style’.
And the results aren’t bad. Yes, there is an impending mid-air collision or two, planes with one wing, the Eiffel Tower being cut in half and Fraser about to fall out of the plane… but the AI took 20 seconds to do what would take me weeks.
Ever since my dad brought home a copy of Child’s Play from the video store (thinking it was a movie for kids), I have loved horror. The genre has lost its way a few times (I’m looking at you mid-noughties gore-fests!), but thankfully there has been a resurgence of smart and scary movies and TV series of late. And I hope one day to add to it.
Leonardo, meet Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein, meet Leonardo. This is what happens when my two favourite artists collide in AI. And I must say, the results (especially the top right one) are pretty banging.
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