AI-Generated Portrait of Upload’s Hero/Anti-Hero, Raymond Quan

Nearly ten years after publishing Upload, and over twenty years after I started writing it, I find myself in the interesting position of being able to use DALL-E, an artificial-intelligence tool used to generate images from text prompts, to create a portrait of Raymond.

Portrait of Raymond Quan generated by the artificial-intelligence tool DALL-E
Raymond using sci-fi-retro manuhaptic gloves and VR visor – Image created by DALL-E

While DALL-E is by no means an artificial general intelligence, it’s pretty exciting, as an author, to use an AI to generate a portrait of a near-future sci-fi character whose life is profoundly entwined with AI and A-Life. (The book is set far enough in the future that the idea of Raymond using a VR visor that looks familiar to us in 2022 is a stretch, but he is into retro hardware.)

There’s potential here for authors to flesh out their own mental images of characters, props, and settings, using tools like DALL-E to engage in a design dialog that can then inspire written descriptions that are richer, more detailed, and even more creative.

How do you think DALL-E and I did — is it a reasonable portrait? Does it in any way change your image of Raymond, for better or worse?

Teaser Tuesdays

Thank you to Deanna over at The Book Lover’s Attic for posting the following Tuesday Teaser from Upload!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.  Everyone is invited to play along.  Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • Be careful not to include spoilers!
  • Share the title and author as well so that others can add the book to their To Be Read list!

This week I am reading Upload by Mark McClelland.  Check out the teaser and synopsis below:

The group made their way through what felt like an ancient fog-enshrouded crypt, down crowded plaster-walled corridors, ethereal voices whispering eerie bits of poetry.  Raymond leaned forward, over Anya’s shoulder.  Page 72

upload

Synopsis:  His criminal past catching up with him, a troubled young man seeks escape into digital utopia by uploading his consciousness into a computer – just as first love casts his life in a new light.  In this thrilling near-future science-fiction novel, Mark McClelland explores the immense potential of computer-based consciousness and the philosophical perils of simulated society.