Welcome to my blog! My name is Karen, and I am a Professor of Information Technology and Computer Technology at a for-profit online university. I am also an adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity at a state university with a renowned program that prepares graduates for cybersecurity and intelligence jobs at various government agencies. In that job, I teach Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning courses.
This blog will discuss prompt engineering, AI image generation, and how I use LLMs, specifically ChatGPT. This post is 100% human-written by me. However, I used ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas to refine the prompt I used to generate the AI images and for technical help locating specific customization options in Blogger.
Before settling on Blogger, I briefly tried WordPress, but did not find it as intuitive. Additionally, I tried out the built-in AI image generator within WordPress and was unhappy with the results. So I have opted to use Blogger for my journal entries and ChatGPT for AI image generation.
I struggled to compose a full prompt to generate an AI image of a "middle-aged female cybersecurity professor," so I asked ChatGPT what other details I might include in my prompt, and it suggested I specify physical appearance details, clothing style, setting, mood, and image style preference.
Using DALL-E, ChatGPT generated the picture below based on the following prompt: "A middle-aged female cybersecurity professor with short blond hair and glasses. Her clothing is professional with a tech twist. Her mood is confident and tech-savvy, but also warm and approachable. The setting is a cybersecurity lab. The style should be realistic."
The image generated by DALL-E essentially captured how I see myself, so I was very satisfied with it. I then gave the same prompt to the AI image generator in WordPress, and it generated the image below, which looked more like a cartoonish librarian than a realistic cybersecurity professor, so I was not happy with it.
After settling on Blogger as my platform, I explored the customization options to set background colors for my posts and a basic template for my blog. Whenever I got stuck, instead of browsing the help files for Blogger, I consulted ChatGPT for advice on where to find various options. I also found it helpful to take screenshots of my blog and upload them to ChatGPT along with questions about what different elements on the blog are called and where I could find the options to customize each one. After choosing a background color for my posts and a text color for my titles, I also asked ChatGPT for advice on what heading background colors and page text colors might go well together while providing adequate contrast with the colors I had already chosen. And then I tried out different suggested colors until I found a combination I liked. This is pretty typical of how I use AI as a collaborator as I do my work. I am still envisioning and planning the project and putting it together, but I consult my AI assistant for advice and suggestions as I do my work.
This is the conversation log where I used ChatGPT to refine my prompt (including an argument with the AI afterwards since I hadn't saved the prompt and was struggling to reconstruct it for this blog -- yes, I argue with my AI on a very regular basis! 😏
https://chatgpt.com/share/682ff13a-6954-8003-ba64-0ca0f553bff0
And here is the conversation where I asked ChatGPT for technical help in customizing my blog:
https://chatgpt.com/share/682ff26a-c864-8003-bde0-281ab17433d8
You can see from the conversation logs that I use ChatGPT like a tutor to help me with whatever task I am working on. AI is powerful in the right hands and can enhance learning and productivity. However, it is best when combined with expertise so that the person using it can test and verify any suggestions given by the AI, and can continue to build on the suggestions with their own work. Conversely, AI can hinder the learning process when a student attempts to substitute AI-generated work for their own work, instead of using it responsibly and as a collaborator.
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