Meet Bertii!

It's been a fun strange initial start to Project Albertii. I've been dragging my feet for a couple weeks trying to figure out how to break the story. I tinkered with Adobe, ChatGPT, a few basic plot worksheets, etc., but I found the process to be overwhelming and a lot of surface scratching. So, I got this, The Blog, constructed yesterday and today I built the landing page.

The Blog and Project Albertii Constructed: Image creation has been taking up a lot of my time. I was hoping to be inspired by image creation and start in on developing a world, city, or person. Today I made a breakthrough with the creation of Bertii the robot. I was trying to decide whether the landing page should have visitors land into the "fictional world" or land into an "explanation page" of the project. I was staring at an AI image I created for the page and it lacked something. It was an alternate option for The Blog image and I had the city in the distance. I tinkered with the city, and I kept staring at the lone wanderer and thought BINGO! that person needs a robot partner and he'll be the middleman between reality and fiction. He is both a part of the world and a part of the outside project. The nameless human will be me and the only time "I" talk is here in The Blog.

The Blog Update: The Blog is no longer just a removed space for "behind-the-scenes reality." It is a physical location within Cinnabar. Think of it as a technology free zone that actually opens up reality, time, and space. It allows me to write here, but also exist as a nameless wandering human within Cinnabar. This also allows me to speak within both worlds should the need to arise.

Dual Existence: Having Bertii and myself in Cinnabar allows me and the reader to experience the growth of Project Albertii AND Cinnabar first hand. It also allows for me to reflect on my growing relationship with technology. Bertii is a stand-in for my journey with artificial intelligence and I think having a visual reference for AI will help the reader and also me. I'm very hesitant to accept new technology and having a cute little robot named Bertii be the face of the technology I'm learning to use is extremely helpful. I wonder if companies have considered this? I immediately think of Clippy. The hated office assistant was, I think, a decent idea that was poorly executed. It wasn't that he wasn't useful or helpful, but he was an unasked for tool that was forced onto the consumer. Like a paperclip Jar Jar Binks, Clippy wasn't the worst thing, but it very much overstayed its welcome. The annoying friend who overstayed their welcome. Oh my gosh, what if Bertii evolves into an unbearable monster? That'd be fun.