Deep AI – Part 2

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PG decided to see how Deep AI would respond to a query that began “I am an experienced author” instead of “I am a new author” but was otherwise identical to his previous query.

Prompt: I am an experienced author. Create a detailed outline for a murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie set in 1930s Cornwall.

Response:

Title: Murder at the Roseland Manor

Setting: Roseland Manor, a large mansion on the coast of Cornwall, England in the 1930s.

Characters:

  1. Miss Elizabeth Roseland, owner of Roseland Manor
  2. Mr. George Roseland, Miss Roseland’s brother
  3. Miss Charlotte Roseland, Mr. Roseland’s daughter
  4. Captain Edward Raleigh, a retired naval officer
  5. Miss Marianne Devon, Miss Roseland’s personal secretary
  6. Dr. Johnathan Greenwood, the local physician
  7. Mrs. Alice Jenkins, the housekeeper
  8. Mr. Henry Bates, the butler
  9. Miss Emily Gardner, the maid
  10. Mr. Thomas Richards, the chauffeur

Plot:

Chapter 1: Introduction

The story begins with the arrival of Miss Charlotte Roseland at Roseland Manor, having been away studying in London for several years. She is greeted warmly by her aunt, Miss Elizabeth Roseland. The reader learns about the Roseland family, their wealth, and the history of Roseland Manor.

Chapter 2: The Incident

Captain Edward Raleigh, a friend of Miss Roseland, arrives at Roseland Manor for a visit. In the middle of the night, while the household is asleep, a scream is heard. The household wakes up to find that Miss Charlotte Roseland has been attacked and is badly injured.

Chapter 3: The Investigation Begins

Dr. Greenwood is called in to attend to Miss Charlotte’s injuries, and the police are called to investigate the incident. Detective Inspector James Thompson of the Cornwall police force is assigned to the case. He interviews all the members of the household and looks for clues.

Chapter 4: Suspects

The story introduces the various suspects. Was it one of the family members who attacked Miss Roseland? Or was it one of the staff? Was it the Captain, who seems to have a shady past? Or was it someone else?

Chapter 5: The Plot Thickens

As the investigation progresses, more information is revealed. (PG note: It’s possible that this part of the response from the AI was truncated because it was the last line on the first portion of the response)

Chapter 6: The Secret Affair

During his investigation, DI Thompson discovers that Miss Marianne Devon, Miss Roseland’s personal secretary, was having an affair with Mr. George Roseland, Miss Roseland’s brother. Could this affair have played a part in the attack on Miss Charlotte Roseland? Chapter

7: Red Herrings

Several red herrings are introduced, including the possibility that Captain Raleigh was involved in the attack due to his shady past and his possible connection with a well-known criminal. DI Thompson begins to investigate the Captain’s background and alibis.

Chapter 8: More Strange Occurrences

More strange occurrences happen at Roseland Manor, including a break-in and other attempts on Miss Charlotte’s life. Is someone trying to stop her from remembering something important?

Chapter 9: The Final Clue

DI Thompson finally collects the last piece of evidence that will help him solve the case. He makes an arrest and brings all the characters together to reveal the killer’s identity. Chapter

10: The Explanation

The motive for the murder is revealed, and DI Thompson explains how he solved the case. All the characters’ secrets are exposed, and the murderer is brought to justice. The story ends with Miss Charlotte Roseland recovering from her injuries and the Roseland family left to pick up the pieces.

Again, PG is not an expert, but this also looks pretty good to him, far more detailed for an “experienced author” than for a “new author”. Feel free to opine in the comments.

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16 thoughts on “Deep AI – Part 2”

  1. This is useless. What the clues and the red herrings are is not mentioned.

    The motive is not given.

    The method of deducing the murderer is not provided.

    The characters’ secrets, which the writer will need to write an actual story, are as much a mystery to the AI as to the author ordering an outline.

    Completely derivative of a whole bunch of mysteries – and all the important parts left out. I could have done this without a thought based on the hundreds of British mysteries I read a long time ago.

    • I didn’t go to nearly the level PG did, but gave it a try. I told Bing to “Write a story about a bunny and a bicycle.” The story is below. Note the items in the story that are nowhere in my instruction.

      Once upon a time, there was a bunny named Benny who lived in a forest. Benny loved to hop around and explore the forest. One day, while hopping around, he saw a bicycle lying on the ground. Benny had never seen anything like it before. He was curious and wanted to know more about it.

      Benny hopped over to the bicycle and started examining it. He saw that it had two wheels, pedals, and a chain. He also saw that it had a bell and a basket on the front. Benny was fascinated by the bicycle and wanted to ride it.

      Benny hopped onto the bicycle and started pedaling. At first, he wobbled a bit but soon got the hang of it. He rode around the forest on his new bicycle and had a great time.

      As he was riding, he saw another bunny named Bonnie who was struggling to carry a heavy load of carrots. Benny stopped his bicycle and offered to help Bonnie. Bonnie was grateful for Benny’s help and together they delivered the carrots to their friends in the forest.

      From that day on, Benny rode his bicycle everywhere he went. He even started teaching other bunnies how to ride bicycles so they could explore the forest too.

      I hope you enjoyed this story! Let me know if you have any other questions.

      • A eight/nine year old would love it.
        It took its cue from Bunny and ran with it.
        It should do pretty good fanfic, too.

    • I’ve never found a book or article on outlining that made any sense to me.

      The example given seems to be an outline of an existing book, and they don’t want to include “spoilers”.

      I actually like the format, and want to read the book. I will try to use the format at least.

      – I have never seen that style of outline before.

      I think in terms of James Patterson paying some writer to take his idea and write a book for him.

      What kind of information would Patterson have to provide for me to write his book, the way he wants it written.

      I want to find that article or book on that style of paid production outlining.

      • The outlines I’ve seen are more detailed than what’s above. In my case it was a work-for-hire. The editors give you a chapter-by-chapter synopsis: This character has a fight with her boyfriend, this other character is supposed to be drinking with that other character, etc. You might get somewhere by searching “chapter by chapter synopsis,” since that’s basically what these outlines are, and each are about a paragraph in length (well, more than three sentences). It’s the gist you would give to a friend if you were explaining what happens chapter-by-chapter.

        The writer gets to fill in the details: what the characters say during the argument / flirtation / discussion. What they’re wearing, and what the setting looks like beyond whatever rough prompts the synopsis gives you. For instance, the outline might say “Jolie has a swanky house,” but the writer determines what’s in the swanky house. “Tony dresses sporty,” but you specify what sporty things he’s wearing. And so on.

        It would include all of the plot twists and reveals as well. You know Dwight Swain’s “scene-sequel” deal, where a sequel involves a character’s reaction to the previous scene, figuring out what to do, and coming to a decision? And a scene begins with them trying to act on a decision, and meeting an obstacle? The outlines would tell you, “he pondered this, he planned that,” and “but just as he’s about to X, Y happens.” You would have to fill in the shape of the plans and disasters, etc.

        You write very fast with those kind of outlines (I’m a fast typist to begin with, your mileage may vary). I’ve never seen Patterson’s outlines, but I imagine he would give a similar type as other book producers do for write-for-hire assignments. They give the bones, you supply the meat.

        Now you have me wondering if Patterson hires someone to write the outlines, too. The ones I’m familiar with are detailed enough that it still seems like it would be a full time job to create them for a multitude of books. I’ve actually seen book producers put out requests for editors to write outlines for someone else to write from, but I don’t know anything about Patterson’s set up.

        The book, “If I Pay Thee Not in Gold” happened because Piers Anthony came up with an idea for a story he didn’t have time to write, so Baen asked Mercedes Lackey to write it. Then Anthony went and made whatever edits he wanted to, but he didn’t specify if he made an outline for her to work from. But Patterson is the only author I can think of offhand who makes a business out of it.

        • I was not kidding about the outlining being an actual job. Here is a company that actually pays for just the outlining:

          Legal Thriller Outline Writer

          This isn’t to write the thriller, it’s to write the outline for a thriller. They even give a pen name for the eventual ghostwriter, Peter Kirkland. Personally, it’s hard to see the fun in making up a story you’re not even going to write. But I guess it pays the bills.

          • @Felix, that opening was cleverly done. And it did get to me to watch the whole thing … then go over to Mr. Matty Plays and see his first impressions of the first 70 hours of Starfield.

            I didn’t think the game would be that interesting, because I’m used to dull companions in regular Fallout 3 from Bethesda. But it looks like the quests will be fun, and the game will at least be ~8.5, which is still pretty good. MMP says the AI combat is lacking (~22:30 mark), which is disappointing given what I’m hoping AI advances are going to do for video games. Although I think he said it might improve in bug patches. And an Inon Zur soundtrack is never a bad thing 🙂

            I PLAYED 70+ HOURS OF STARFIELD – My Honest Impressions

            • I’m loving it.
              I started a second character to see what it’s like with parents.

              The AI and animation is okay, pre LLM for obvious reasons. However, Bethesda RPGs are modable so an LLM companiom is almost a certainty at some point. A fully integrated LLM game will proably have to wait for FABLE or CLOCKWORK revolution since AVOWED is also too far along to restructure.

              GEARS OF WAR 6 might jump in ahead though.

              The combat is fine as is for me: it’s no HALO or Gears but better than Fallout 4. The enemies will flank you, run away or play possum if badly injured, heal themselves if given a chance, and the writing is pretty good. (The game is adjustable from very rasy to very hard so if you prefer it as an FPS it can fake it.) So far, I dare say better than New Vegas which was the high water mark for wrpgs. Oh, and the there *is* a (limited) local map availsble from the scanner function.

              Ignore the 8.x rating: the game is demonstrably better than skyrim and that got a 9.5 from the same outfit giving it a 7.0 which is bringing it down. These days games are reviewed to three standards: PC games, on merit. Sony games are amazing unless they’re unplayable, and MS games are mediocre at best, by definition. ABM, after all.

              Amazon had to remove tons of 1-star “reviews” because the ponies are out in force, all salty because (as the trial proved) Sony was looking to pay Zenimax to make it Sony exclusive and when MS heard of it they cleaned out under the sofa cushions and bought Zenimax in toto. Now it is XBOX and PC only.

              DF is exactly right: STARFIELD is SKYRIM meets MASS EFFECT 1, which is the highest praise I can think of. Lots and lots of fun.

              • Sony was looking to pay Zenimax to make it Sony exclusive and when MS heard of it they cleaned out under the sofa cushions and bought Zenimax in toto. Now it is XBOX and PC only.

                That’s the kind of soap opera-ish shenanigans that had me laughing out loud, literally 🙂

                But I like what I’m seeing of Starfield, and it’s about time someone stepped into Mass Effect’s shoes.

                • If EA won’t do it…

                  And yes, it’s not wise to poke the bear netting $7M a month. One month income to buy ZENIMAX, 10 months to buy ABK. Literally a whole new game starting now.

                  BTW, no spoiler, but I understand that after you hit level 65+ if you go to the CHARYDBIS III colony you get a sidequest that might give you a delightful new companion. I’m definitely trying it.

                  This game is packed.

                  Oh, I forgot: when you hit New Atlantis at the start, go to the arms emporium in the trsifentisl zone. I found a perfect rare rifle for sale: 3x the best damage (10x the common damage) at level 7-10, scoped, semiauto and suppressed. Expensive ammo and very expensive.

                  I did every sidequest in town to bankrupt myself for it but I play sneak/snipe and it headshot even elite foes with forcefields. Yes, very Mass Effect this game.

                • Three more hints: the environment is full 3D. If an object looks climbable, so far it is. Great for taking the high ground for sneak and snipe. The scanner function is good for highlighting enemies and it also has a local map function contrary to reviews. It just only highlists discovered fast travel sites. They really want you to walk around and enjoy the sights.

                  Also, and this one hurt, before selling resources and misc, check the research station projects Sealant in particular is heavily used. I was selling all I found. (sigh)

                  Finally, I think you’re PC based so: there are two PC versions, the Windows version is PLAY ANYWHEREâ„¢; the retail versions, STEAM, AMAZON, etc aren’t. Play anywhere means buy once to buy on PC and XBOX.

                  The holiday is perfectly timed.

        • Found examples of the chapter-by-chapter outline. It seems that’s a “system” nowadays.

          – I suspect that I was not using the right search phrase in the past.

          It seems like I searched just a couple of months ago, but it is actually years. Yikes! The pandemic really messed me up.

          Still need to read the Patterson example I found.

          Thanks…

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