The tl;dr: A guy is selling subscriptions to an AI-based software tool to "help you write better novels." And to train it, he's used tens of thousands of novels from authors you know, without those authors giving him permission.
...Sometimes things seem to blow up with unusual speed. This particular shit seems to have hit the fan yesterday, primarily on Twitter, when various authors discovered the guy's website, prosecraft.io. This site featured "clippings" of writing from the authors he'd stolen from... and the revelation that he had scraped their entire books, not just excerpts, to train his AI. ("2,470,720,986 words," his website bragged, "from 27,668 books, by 15,622 authors." The only authors who were off limits, apparently, were people using [or paying for] his software.) Though the guy hastily took prosecraft.io down when the online explosions began, if you take a look at this Google search you can see the covers of just some of the books the entire contents of which he exploited for AI training.
This usage goes well beyond the "fair use" defense that he belatedly (and ineffectively) attempted to employ on Twitter. It's straightforward copyright infringement, on a massive scale: good old-fashioned theft.
The only upside to this sorry situation is that, at the legal end of things, this guy is certainly about to get nuked from orbit… because all those authors’ full-text works will still be in the guts of the guy’s AI, which is being used by him for commercial purposes. (Among the authors he made the gross tactical error of stealing from: Stephen King, James Patterson, the Pratchett Estate, and Nora Roberts. This... is not going to go well for him.)
Leverage's John Rogers sums it up succinctly:
ALT
Meanwhile: the guy who created this whole mess is still selling subscriptions to his Shaxpir software (I'm not adding the URL here) that he trained using stolen goods. So—until someone stops him—you might like to reblog this info for the attention of others here who prefer their writing to stay human-made as well as -fueled, and not to support the seriously ethically-challenged.
it’s always amazing to watch adults discover how much changes when they don’t treat their perspective as the default human experience.
example:
it’s been well-documented for a long time that urban spaces are more
dangerous for kids than they are for adults. but common wisdom has
generally held that that’s just the way things are because kids are
inherently vulnerable. and because policymakers keep operating under the assumption that there’s nothing that can be done about kids being less safe in cities because that’s just how kids are, the danger they face in public spaces like
streets and parks has been used as an excuse for marginalizing and regulating them out of
those spaces.
(by the same people who then complain about kids being inside playing video games, I’d imagine.)
thing is, there’s no real evidence to suggest that kids are inescapably less safe in urban spaces. the causality goes the other way: urban spaces are safer for adults because they are designed for adults, by adults, with an adult perspective and experience in mind.
the city of Oslo, Norway recently started a campaign to take a new perspective on urban planning. quite literally a new perspective: they started looking at the city from 95 centimeters off the ground - the height of the average three-year-old. one of the first things they found was that, from that height, there were a lot of hedges blocking the view of roads from sidewalks. in other words, adults could see traffic, but kids couldn’t.
pop quiz: what does not being able to see a car coming do to the safety of pedestrians? the city of Oslo was literally designed to make it more dangerous for kids to cross the street. and no one realized it until they took the laughably small but simultaneously really significant step of…lowering their eye level by a couple of feet.
so Oslo started trimming all its decorative roadside vegetation down. and what was the first result they saw? kids in Oslo are walking to school more, because it’s safer to do it now. and that, as it turns out, reduces traffic around schools, making it even safer to walk to school.
so yeah. this is the kind of important real-life impact all that silly social justice nonsense of recognizing adultism as a massive structural problem can have. stop ignoring 1/3 of the population when you’re deciding what the world should look like and the world gets better a little bit at a time.
Just so we're all on the same page with the writer's strike.
If during the strike, it's announced about AI generated shows. We are not watching them. Not even out of curiosity. Let them fail every AI generated show they try make.
The human voice can not be replaced by AI. Don't let them try.
heads up. the charts in the middle are very rough guides. everything about copying is super grey, you need to use your own judgement…also I have more notes
I wanted to compile a list of optional party roles. Basically, it’s something that gives the player a purpose in the party and helps delegate responsibilities in and out of the game world. You can use some or all of these roles, depending on how many players you have and which roles your group actually needs. I’ve divided them into Party Roles, Exploration Roles, and Combat Roles.
Party Roles
These are roles that players can take outside the game world. These are roles to help make the game session run more smoothly.
Cartographer: The map maker. While you might collect vague maps of the world or countries with some landmarks, there are things that are often not mapped that you will need to map yourself. The most common are dungeons and cities. The DM can describe the layout of a city as you explore it or inquire of NPCs where to find certain establishments and people. In the dungeon, I use a game mat that isn’t particularly big, meaning that often I will have to keep erasing rooms as the players progress. If a player is mapping out the dungeon, players will be able to backtrack through it and know where they are in the overall layout at any given moment, no matter how many rooms that I erase.
Leader: Another highly optional role that lends itself to players that are chaotic and all over the place. If someone is distinctly assigned as the leader, that player will give the final say to the DM about what the group is doing. Players can still make their own decisions, but nothing progresses in-game until the leader informs the DM.
Initiative Tracker: Normally, the DM is in charge of initiative. But the DM has a lot of things to keep track of! Instead, consider delegating this duty to a player who is only controlling one character (instead of several monsters). This puts less pressure on the DM and can engage players in planning. When the players know when their turn is coming up, they can plan ahead, making combat go quicker. The only times this can get iffy is when fighting creatures with legendary actions or when there is an unknown creature that the players aren’t supposed to know about (for instance, a hidden or invisible enemy). The Leader can sometimes take this role as well.
Quartermaster: If you have a lot of players, the Treasurer role can be split into the Quartermaster, who keeps track of things like rations, equipment, and items that the party has, rather than treasure.
Scribe/Historian: This role is the one that’s the easiest to leave out if players take tons of notes already. If your group does not take the best notes, someone delegated to do so can be a godsend. Players forget things all the time, especially from a made-up fantasy world. Having all the notes in one place instead of scattered throughout the team is very efficient. The ideal method of taking notes, I feel, is having a binder (so you can add pages to different sections). Then make a section for each unique location, plus one for the overall story. Then simply take notes in chronological order, so you can approximately know how far back you need to go to find a note.
Treasurer: The treasure-keeper. Their job is to write down all of the treasure that isn’t being worn or kept by a character. They don’t need to keep track that the barbarian is holding the Vorpal Longsword, but the Cloak of Elvenkind that isn’t attuned to anyone could be sold or used later, so the treasurer writes it down. The treasurer might be the one who holds the Portable Hole or Bag of Holding for the group to carry all their treasure. They should keep track of how much each treasure is worth, and potentially be the one with the highest INT or most useful tools for appraisal (like a jeweler’s kit). They can also keep track of rooms where there was treasure too large to carry.
Exploration Roles
These are in-game roles for characters to take when they aren’t in combat. This make exploration more consistent whether in the city or in the wilderness.
Creator: While it isn’t overtly a part of exploring, it is a non-combat downtime role. The creator is a spellcaster that uses some of the party’s funds to create useful magic items like Potions of Healing or sometimes even greater items. Remember that others can help you reduce the construction time of magic items, as some take a long time. The best creators have access to lots of spells so they can create a variety of items, like a druid, cleric, wizard, or sorcerer. Warlocks can also fill this role but they have less spells to choose from.
Face: The person with the highest social skills, usually the bard, rogue, sorcerer, warlock, or paladin since they tend to have lots of charisma. They are the first people to talk to a new NPC. First impressions are important, after all.
Investigator: This player is usually the rogue, bard, or wizard with the highest Investigation check. They are the ones to search for traps or investigate suspicious objects.
Lookout: This role is for the player with the highest Perception, often the ranger, druid, or monk. This player is the one who is always keeping an eye out for danger in dungeons, on the road, and in cities.
Muscle: The role for the barbarian, paladin, fighter, monk, or ranger. The de facto Athletics check for breaking down doors and moving boulders. Usually they are reserved for combat on the front lines, but sometimes their brute force comes in handy.
Pathfinder: This role is the one that makes all the Survival checks in the wilderness and helps prevent the party from getting lost. The best role for a ranger, but some druids, barbarians, or fighters might instead have skills for Survival.
Sage: Whoever has the most or best knowledge skills like Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion. Usually reserved for the wizard, cleric, druid, warlock, or sorcerer.
Scout: Combines the Pathfinder and Lookout duties into one role if you have a smaller party. The scout walks ahead of the party to search for danger. One person is harder to spot than a group of people.
Combat Roles
These roles are strictly for combat situations. Most classes already sort of know what they are useful for, but identifying these roles can let players manage spells and abilities more carefully and keep everyone alive.
Controller: The control character has some way of, well, controlling the battlefield. They can either hold down a dangerous creature so the team can take care of weaker creatures first, or restrict the movement of a larger force of enemies so they can be dealt with at a slower pace. Sometimes they have ways of moving themselves or others around the battlefield. Usually this belongs to the wizard, with access to plenty of control spells, or the druid, who has lots of movement-restricting spells.
Defender: The tank. This role tries to be the target of the majority of attacks as they tend to be the most resilient. They are aided by the party’s support and control to keep their health up and enemies off of them. Meanwhile the damage-dealer keeps up their damage from a safe position. Barbarians, fighters, and paladins make the best defense roles, though a monk can sometimes fill this role through evasive action.
Striker: The damage-dealer. They must be careful not to invoke the ire of a powerful enemy as they often are very weak. Intelligent enemies might see their threat and focus them. The best damage roles are the sorcerer, warlock, ranger (unearthed arcana version is a bit better though), monk, and rogue.
Support: The support character either protects the defender character or provides aid where needed. This can refer to healing, but can also be enhancing buffs to increase armor, health, saves, or skills. The bard, druid, or cleric usually fills this roll.
But still interested in feeding yourself? What if I told you that there’s a person with a blog who had to feed both themselves and their young son…on 10 British pounds ($15/14 Euro) per week?
Let me tell you a thing.
This individual (Jack Monroe, who has come out as nonbinary) saved my life last year. Actually saved my life. I had a piggy bank full of change and that’s it. Many people in my fandom might remember that dark time as when I had to hock my writing skills in exchange for donations. I cried a lot then.
This is real talk, people: I marked down exactly what I needed to buy, totaled it, counted out that exact change, and then went to three different stores to buy what I needed so I didn’t have to dump a load of change on just one person. I was already embarrassed, but to feel people staring? Utter shame suffused me. The reasons behind that are another post all together.
Cookingonabootstrap.com is run by a British person who was on benefits for years. Things got desperate. They had to find a way to feed themselves and their son using just the basics that could be found at the supermarket. But the recipes they came up with are amazing.
You have to consider the differing costs of things between countries, but if you just have three ingredients in your cupboard, Jack Monroe will tell you what to do with it. Check what you already have. Chances are you have the basics of a filling meal already.
Bake your own bread. It’s easier than you think. Here’s a list of many recipes, each using some variation of just plain flour, yeast, some oil, maybe water or lemon juice. And kneading bread is therapeutic.
They have a book, but many recipes can be found on their blog for free. They price their recipes down to the cent, and every year they participate in a project called “Living Below the Line” where they have to live on 1 BP per day of food for five days.
Things improved for me a little, but her website is my go to. I learned how to bake bread (using my crockpot, but that was my own twist), and I have a little cart full of things that saved me back then, just in case I need them again. Jack Monroe gives you the tools to feed yourself, for very little money, and that’s a fabulous feeling.
Tip: Whenever you have a little extra money, buy a 10 dollar/pound/euro giftcard from your discount grocer. Stash it. That’s your super emergency money. Make sure they don’t charge by the month for lack of use, though.
I don’t care if it sounds like an advertisement–you won’t be buying anything from the site. What I DO care about is your mental, emotional, and physical health–and dammit, food’s right in the center of that.
If you don’t need this now, pass it on to someone who does. Pass it on anyway, because do you REALLY know which of the people in your life is in need? Which follower might be staring at their own piggy bank? Trust me: someone out there needs to see this.
Edit November 2016: I updated the post a long time ago to reflect Jack’s gender identity, but now I’ve fixed the links too.
PASS THIS ON, PEOPLE. 250k notes means that there is a real need out there, and this could save someone’s life. Even if you’ve reblogged before, do it again so that the new links are circulated.
ALT
