September 2023 ~ The Arcadian Complex

Newsletter 20 - Loab

Hi friends, Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror author Paul James Keyes here with another newsletter!

Last time I wrote about the nature of infinity [LINK TO NEWSLETTER 19 - THE NATURE OF INFINITY]—this time I want to tell you the true story of Loab, the first AI cryptid.

What is Loab? Well, it’s a scary looking entity that exists in the liminal space of an AI mind. After being discovered, Loab has become an easily targetable term that can be drawn by image generating AI. The style changes, but the “Loabness” of the images are unquestionable. The image I included in this newsletter is one of the least scary that exists of Loab. She was once just a nightmare in the machine, but now Loab has transmitted itself into the public consciousness.

The story of Loab is both mundane and eerie. A researcher interested in learning about the inspiration AI uses to draw its images developed a way of asking for an image to contain none of the quality of a term by affixing a -1 to the search query. This was basically a negative or “opposite” search term. They tried it with the term Marlon Brando-1. The image that popped up was of a city-scape that came with a nonsensical name attached. They took that name and entered it back in with a -1 prompt in the hopes of seeing an image of Marlon Brando.

That is not what appeared. Instead, the image given back was the first image of Loab.

The researcher was able to use that image to generate more images of the horror inducing entity. The AI latched on to the horrific quality of Loab and was able to pump out some truly terrifying images.

Some people have reported difficulty getting AI to draw images of Loab (I’m sure it depends on which AI is used), for others it pops up at random, inserting itself into otherwise innocent prompts, almost like a digital haunting. To me, the most interesting part of Loab is that the quality or vibe of Loab exists in the negative space of the AI’s “mind”—and really the AI’s “mind” is just a reflection of the conglomerate human consciousness.

Loab sprang into being the moment we became aware of it. Or perhaps it has always existed, just waiting to be discovered. Either way, it has exited the negative space and now exists as a theme to draw upon in the forefront of the AI mind.

It persists like a scary meme in our minds and across the internet, with new images being drawn up every day by people who remain fascinated by her story of spontaneous creation.

What else exists in the liminal space of our consciousness that AI could show us in the future? Hopefully, it won’t all be pure nightmare fuel like Loab—unless you like that sort of thing!

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Newsletter 19 - The Nature of Infinity

Paul James Keyes8:00 AM No comments

Hi friends, Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror author Paul James Keyes here with another newsletter!

Last time I flexed my poetic chops. [LINK TO NEWSLETTER 18 - POETRY IN MOTION]. This time I want to talk about the mind-shattering concept and nature of Infinity.

The concept of an infinite universe—everything that can physically exist in this moment, does.

Infinity. It’s a funny thing. Infinite—never ending—it’s incomprehensible to finite beings such as ourselves. We can only hope to understand it through metaphor. But I would like to take a logical approach to understanding what infinity means.

First off, yes, I saw that Netflix math documentary, A Trip to Infinity (and you should too). It talks about math and the concept of infinity and is very interesting even to less mathematically inclined individuals. I saw it a few months ago, so I come at this topic now from a more philosophical perspective.

If we accept that the universe is infinite, then we are accepting that anything that can physically happen under the laws of physics in our universe is currently happening somewhere out there right now. There are only so many positions an atom or a group of atoms such as ourselves can superimpose into. Like lego builds with any certain amount of blocks, there are a very large but finite number of combinations. The less common the orientation of atoms, the less likely you are to run into an exact duplicate of something out there in the infinitely wide universe. But that does not mean that statistically there isn’t a chance.

Just as twins can exist with the same genetic build but be made up of different atoms, somewhere, out there in the infinite universe, infinite identical and nearly identical and completely different versions of a place like Earth and also places that are not like Earth at all plus every other possible scenario under any sun that could ever exist… are all existing, all at once, everywhere.

Everything that can exist, is existing.

If you haven’t seen Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, it’s a fantastic film! It’s a fantasy, obviously, but it quite possibly depicts the true nature of reality more realistically than one would expect.

Every moment of time is currently existing at the same time, because really, time is an illusion created by the brain. I’m not trying to convince you of any of this. It is simply a fact that given infinite space and the limited possible orientations of atoms within a finite space at our scale of existence, every possible thing that can physically be happening under the governing rules of our universe—that being fundamental physics—is currently, and always happening, forever. All at once. Always.

Right. So just let that sink in.

If all of that is not true, then the universe is not infinite.

Given an infinite universe, the fact that you exist is both a miracle, and an inevitability. Every form of something that could look or feel like you exists and is going through every possible experience all at once. All good scenarios and all bad ones. Ones that make sense, and ones that are complete and utter nonsense. Somewhere a [insert any random orientation of atoms here] appears in front of “you.” Somewhere, an anvil appears in the air above “your” head and squishes “you” at the worst possible moment. It’s a rare occurrence, but also there’s no such thing as “rare” when there’s also infinite. At this point, “you” is a concept with infinite iterations and variations all coexisting.

There’s a lot that you could empathize with out there, but its all too far away to ever effect you… probably.

The chances of you ever encountering a separate Earth or “you” is very very small, but at the same time, given infinite space, somewhere out there random occurrences form just the right orientation for a facsimile of you to meet another version of you with a slightly worse haircut.

For the record, after grappling with this concept, I am not convinced the universe actually is infinite. Maybe it’s just a really big bubble that loops back in on itself and is actually super finite. Maybe that’s nonsense. There’s no answers here, and there never really can be any because our brains are finite and cannot even fully comprehend the nature of infinity. You start going down this road, and you end up going in a circle. It all starts to feel meaningless under the vast everything out there, but ultimately, even if we only move in a meaningless circle, we did get to be conscious for the ride.

Hopefully you are enjoying the ride. You don’t get to know what any of those other “you’s” experienced, but since you know the answer is “everything possible” you can imagine it and never really be wrong.

Letting relevancy by our guide to the here and now is the best way to anchor our slowly computing analog brains to the needs of our bodies. You’ll both take and not take my advice to live in the moment. Hopefully the version of you reading this version of this newsletter can appreciate the existence of the infinite while still living a fulfilling life of experiences and joy.

Until next time, stay safe out there!

Newsletter 18 - Poetry in Motion

Paul James Keyes8:00 AM No comments

Hi friends, Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror author Paul James Keyes here with another newsletter!

Last time I talked about the danger of deepfakes and the post-truth world we now live in. [LINK TO NEWSLETTER 17 - THE POST-TRUTH ERA]. Today, I wanted to share a couple of poems I wrote, because they’re good and you’ll like them. :)

Relentless

Quickly dipping, turning, flipping,
scarcely skirting land and sky,
the kite gnaws at its string, relentlessly
chaffing fears both low and high.

Down the line and to the left,
just past the piers ungainly mass,
the crashing waves of liquid jade
churn froth a chill of winter glass.

A little boy of nine or ten
is combing sand for rocks and shells.
He saves a few and casts the rest
into the oceans midnight swells.

They call his name and search ’til dawn
through wave-swept coves and idle cracks
Until the tide comes rolling in,
forever blotting out his tracks.

Poem 2:

Falcon stirring in the deep,
Lift me up from whence I sleep.
Soaring high to distant lands,
Within the clasp of talloned hands.
It matters not what’s left behind,
Nor where I go, nor what I find.
Through love and strife I dance and weep,
And live the life I wish to keep.

Both of these poems are featured in my books within The Arcadian Complex series, a dark epic fantasy with a sci-fi heart. I call the genre Fantasy-Science, since it blends together in a way that won’t leave fans of either fantasy or science fiction disappointed. If you’ve been reading any of my newsletters so far, you know the kinds of things that interest me. If you like the way I think, you’ll probably like my novels as well. The Arcadian Complex series is free with Kindle Unlimited—I appreciate every reader I can find!

Until next time, stay safe out there!