You May Need To Sit Down For This One, We Shot Some Video Yesterday
I invited some special guests, and they showed up!
So yesterdays story was delayed because I got all caught up in learning some new stuff. And then once I kinda learned it, needed to figure out how it made sense. and then had to not be creeped out by the entire mess. I feel dirty and no digital shower will help. In fact it kinda makes me feel kinda like I cheated at something. BUT, since it actually has a reason and back story, I talked myself into it.
The back story. Getting info from AI can be deadly boring and thats not we are about here. How can I make the information in entertaining snacks. Micro Documentaries, or a Micro Talk Show of sorts. By the way, Micr Drama are the number one thing out there right now being produced. Short videos that follow a pattern. Yes with AI and some with real people. Its all kinda wonky but its how people watch these days.
So I made a way to do a ton of these and have them out there and fun to watch AND learn. 30 seconds -90 second long talk shows with folks we all want to hear from. Regardless of life conditions I might add. So, here is the set up and a sample. Stay tuned, more work needs to go into this, but hopefully done right will be a chat bot that you can talk to.. Or ignore, or sit back and just watch. I will always be the copy here. Enjoy!
Some behind the scenes. Gar is a very funny guy. And will apear in other videos
WARNING, it gets stranger in the comments
DISCLAIMER- The screw video, not what the title may suggest, is a rough test. AI created the screw footage, and also wrote the copy. So I am not really all that sure on the accuracy. We all know that they changed over post war, or during the war. But as to the exact date? Anyway. Comment away, There is something here, just working it out.
That’s pretty cool! I can see the use for it. One question, will “Woody” Matt be prone to an occasional profane word or two? Once again, that looks cool, and inspite of all the work involved, had to be fun to produce!
I have mixed emotions about this stuff. The saving grace is that I am 100% clear that this is what it is, there is kinda tricks here. Trying to use current technology to bring new interest into the classic boat universe.
It was fun, and rather tedious learning new stuff, prompts and such, the videos are produced in an old scool way though. I used AI to generate the images, My real voice as a base, made up voice for Chris, then edited it all on my laptop. That was the trick, now if it can be a template of sorts, Should be able to generate a bunch of them to be used on Social Media to inspire new stuff and people
Man, you were definitely in sand box mode yesterday. Why does Woody look younger than you? Did a little vanity slip in there?
Anyway, it’s pretty cool stuff. Is John Hacker coming to the party?
Woody AI Matt will never be as fun, entertaining and informative as the real Woody Boater Matt.
Woody AI would never spark himself, misspelled a word or do the 12 yr old stuff RealMatt(tm) and most of us would do.
I vote RealMatt(tm)!
Although Chris & Gar are probably laughing like crazy about now.
GOODBYE
This concerns me, Joe. Woody without you is like another library burning down…
Without a disclaimer on all AI generated material, this “advancement” is going to be the beginning of the end of the world. I hate to be a downer, but how is this better than creating the same information using obviously real people? Why make something that is obviously not real when reality can provide the same information. I’m old and senile but my kids and my grandkids are not. What a horrible world we are creating for them.
Does AI Woody sound like you? Please tell me there’s gonna be a Mr. B involved in this giving something like the legal disclaimers. Super cool. . Nice job.
Mr B as the guy may be a better idea. And I am with Mr D. BTW, but this is an interesting test of it all. Bringing Chris and others to life is kinda interesting. To me being very upfront about it kinda helps it, which is why Mr B doing the talking could be better
We all love real Matt there will never be another! but “woody” is a great idea for many reasons like Matt stated previously an unlimited access to the Interwebs so the “reach” is there and great virtual way to step back in time to the good old days walking through Algonac as boats were being built in real Ai time while teaching the world interesting and educational information on our community and to be honest, it’s a great way to reach out to a younger generation. I’m sure there are people will have strong opinions with AI and I don’t personally love the AI idea but it’s the world we live in.
This is truly entertaining!
Greg: I was thinking the same thing! Younger AI Woody!
Cliff: Yes, AI Woddy does sound like real Matt.
Mr D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
Yep
I love everything about this. Matt, you continue to amaze me with the energy, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit you bring to us through Woody Boater.
For those asking *why*… the answer is TIME. If the source of truth can be trusted, why not use the tools and technology available to share that information in interesting new ways—and potentially expand the reach of the platform in the process?
I moved to a very large new employer about a year ago and quickly realized I needed to get on the “AI Bus” or risk being left behind.
I suspect many readers have only interacted with AI through tools that pull from generic internet and Wikipedia sources, which understandably leads to some skepticism. But the technology being deployed in the modern workplace is a different animal. Companies are building secure, internal AI agents that work from controlled sources of information, helping reduce hallucinations while protecting the confidential information being analyzed. The key is knowing what information the AI can access, understanding its limitations, and verifying what it produces.
I shared a couple of examples with Troy yesterday.
I’ve built an agent to help me close out my workweek. It searches across my Microsoft ecosystem—email, Teams chats, calendar, shared files, and more—and I ask it to do three things: **close my loops** (find things I asked for but never received, or commitments I haven’t fulfilled), **bank my wins** (identify where I made a difference, particularly against my annual objectives), and **load me up for next week** (prepare me for key meetings, decisions, and priorities). It even drafts the follow-up emails, ready for me to review and hit send. What previously took a few hours was reduced to about 30 minutes of my time – with higher quality.
Here’s another example. I received a 145-page presentation packed with deep research on a topic I’m not particularly familiar with. I had one hour before it was presented in a meeting with my boss. I fed it to my agent and asked for an executive summary that reflected the authors’ perspective, the important points they may have missed, inconsistencies in the data, and five questions that would help me lead an intelligent discussion. After about two minutes of prompt building I was ready for the conversation.
These aren’t gimmicks. They’re fundamentally changing how I work, how quickly I can get up to speed, and how much more effective I can be with the time I have.
And that’s why I love seeing Matt experiment with this on Woody Boater. If the underlying knowledge and stories are authentic, why wouldn’t we embrace new ways to tell them? The tools don’t replace the passion, experience, or judgment behind the content. They help bring it to more people.
I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that, in less than a year, the question won’t be whether AI is good or bad. It’ll be whether you’ve learned to use it effectively—or whether you’re just trying to compete against people who have. I can’t wait to see what comes of your efforts, Matt!
What a great explanation of how this technology is being put to use in a positive way!
I just sent Matt a text stating “I love the way you embrace these changes in the world around us.” For someone of Matt’s experience it would be very easy to throw in the towel and say “I don’t need to learn this crap”, but no he learns about it and embraces the change. That is a rare quality.
It reminds me of the book “Who moved my cheese”. If anyone here hasn’t read it, you should.
Well done Matt – very entertaining. Can’t wait to see the Gar Wood episodes. Having lived from the days of black and white tv’s and rotary phones through today’s technology I agree that while you may not like it you can’t put the genie back in the bottle so there has to be some sort of acceptance. I’m sure my grandkids will look back at our early attempts at AI and chuckle.
SOLD! I’m in. 🤣
He makes friends easier than me
Careful Gar you may be in for more than you bargained for.
OH, that’s right Mr. B got snipped.
Plus Mr B can warm up to the older Chris Craft Babes easier than me
Its crazy and I agree with Shannon, the future of employment isnt being replaced by ai, but knowing how to use it. I recall my parents complaining about TV and how it will ruin my life. The real trick here is how it could engage new people, and if MR B makes it more fun, well? He is cheap. And easy BTW.
As to when Chris Craft made the switch to reed and price screws, the best evidence is during the restoration of my freind Jeery Campbell’s 1941 17 ft deluxe runabout hull # 71810 i was discover that one side of the boat was assembled with staight slot screws and the other side was asembled with reed and price screws. The boat had never had a early restoration and we have been told that Chris Craft never wasted any material.
That is cool. so what keeps going back and forth in the window? a boat in the sky? Did you interview the Chris Craft Babes about screws?
Oh boy.. That would be entertaining
Can’t wait for the dannenberg episode
Oh boy
Thanks woodyboater
Here is a Lori Pastic Episode. Short but we can see that Mr B’s interveiw style is far better than mine
I’m in Love.
You’re about an hour and a half hour an hour 45 minutes from Richmond, Virginia. I think Mr. B should have a Richmond Virginia accent. This is awesome.
After watching this video, it has sparked a few thoughts and unsettling feelings but I think that is what AI does in most of us. We don’t know if what we are watching is okay or not. Does it push the boundaries a little too much, in my mind yes. I find it sort of puts words into people’s mouths and may portray them as not who they may really have been. I think that is what the actors and society are most worried about. I have been following Matt and Woody Boater since the beginning and over time have had many thoughts which I have expressed over time, some being good and some not so much. This video sparks a few emotions and like the past some good and some are not. I feel it pushes respect for the dead and who or what they may have said or thought to the edge. It may be because I am related to Chris that it makes me a bit uncomfortable just like the AI world does for most of us.
Christopher Columbus Smith died in 1939 when the first 19’ Barrel back came off the factory floor. I believe he knew about the beginning and use of the Reed and Prince screw but I or know one that I know can be sure of this. We as restorers (if you’re a good one) do our research and try to document as much information we can find so we can restore these boats back to the way they were once made. We don’t do it for some trophy but for the preservation of history. We know that in 1940 a boat which was a 17’ Chris Craft barrel back named “Lonnie” for instance had both straight slot screws and reed and prince screws from the factory. We have seen other examples of this and can trace the transition over several boats leaving the factory with every screw eventually becoming a reed and prince. AI does not know this like Matt said and there’s no way it could until this is written and put on the internet. How crazy is that. Now it becomes the expert.
This sparks another rant or thought depending on how you may see it. Several years back a bit of the theme was why should you join a society then pay money to go to a boat show and have your boat judged? It was suggested to just go “Woody Boating” which I believe is a good thing but also started a problem. I believe it divided us from the people how really want to get it right and preserve history from the everyday antique wooden boat user who could care less. Some expressed their opinion on “why should I have some know it all judge pick my boat apart” which they may have restored them self and tell me I have may installed the wrong screw. “What the hell do they know” I can tell you, they know more then you and AI. It’s about getting it right and preserving history for the next generations and for some, that’s a big deal.
We as restorers and preservers of history do not always get it right. For instance, there was a boat which was a 1961 Continental which I put the wrong color turquoise interior in, you can still read about from time to time when it’s brought up. It doesn’t bother me because it sparked a conversation about what was the correct color which we now know. The reason we know is the fact that the boat was judged at a show in a society and compared to others which the correct interior color was used. It was an educational moment for all and one I will never forget.
After writing this is I believe the video Matt made using AI is a slippery one and I am not sure if it’s going to help join us together more of preserve history so then I ask, “what is the point? I guess entertainment but at what cost.
Well said, Mike.
… hmmmmmm, now I have to wonder how many ‘people’ replying here are real versus ‘AI real’. Can the AI bots take over ‘our’ WoodyBoater world and replace all of us supposedly ‘real’ WB’ers on this site?
Sorry, but throwing your hands up and saying, “well, this is the new world we are living in.” Is not the path we want to go down. A few here have said that Ai is the future. Really? Then why am I bumping into people every day that are shunning this crap? Humans want real humans. It is buried in our DNA. We forever will distrust everything that a damn Ai robot will tell us, because we have seen the mistakes, and even though people will say that the technology will get better, we will retain that distrust. Is that really the path and world we want to live in? I sure as hell do not. And it is not the younger ones going head in on this stuff. They are the ones rejecting it more often than the older ones. New cars. Flock cameras. The list is growing. And by the way, Ai is not going to pick up a machine gun and starting killing everyone. That is a damn movie. What it will do is be put in charge of a power grid by idiot humans, and then the machine will make a bad decision to shut down the electrical grid, allowing high speed trains to not get the correct signals allowing a few to smash into one another, or the cancel the entire east coast FAA grid, causing planes to crash and kill. And to Shannon who thinks Ai makes her the wunderkid in the workplace. Really? So what happens when you rely on Ai for something, and it screws up because it was programmed by other humans, who could have been having a bad day, or they were in a divorce and want to hurt others, and that so called perfect Ai costs the company millions in a screw up. Who will be to blame? No thanks. I do not want a world with a bunch of so called perfect Hal 9000 running about making perfect choices. Or not.
Just checked back after posting earlier. Wow! This is going to be one of those high click WB pieces I’m sure. Matt, I love the Mr B videos!
So from here on in, research is going to get tough. You need to have the physical possession of the original written material from the original sources, or you just don’t know for sure the information you have is correct. Even when written material is posted online, who knows if it has been “toyed” with. I do believe Mike Green has a point, but we still need to be able to have some fun messy around in boats!
I believe you can have fun while also identifying AI-generated material as AI. Look at the difference between cartoons (everyone can identify a cartoon when they see it and react to it as something made up) and AI which is rapidly becoming reality. If not now, very soon, it will be impossible to determine what is AI and what isn’t. That is why I can accept AI if I know it is AI (or a cartoon which is readily determined to be a cartoon).
What I see is Matts creativity and talent in exploring this. It may end up being yet another tool to bring information and people into the hobby – we’ll see, I hope so. AI is not going away. The real danger is the lack of discernment (and education) amongst those who are subject to and using it. Most serious is those who use it to promote an agenda based on anything but truth, authenticity and practicality. It is an extension of what we have been experiencing on the internet for the past couple decades now. Human nature doesn’t change and that is the real risk these technologies exploit… Though there is the Mr. B and Chris Craft model bit – cute has heck and right up the human nature trail! 🙂
As hoped, this is a whopper of a topic, which was the intent, and this IS the place to have this conversation. I agree 100% with Mike Green.. BTW, who I respect the hell out of, and trust me it creeped me out to engage Chris in this train wreck. I dont nessasarley agree with briant, who went a little off the edge, which I love about him BTW, The choice of Mr B does solve a bunch of stuff, making it like a cartoon, but the tone is less goofy, and yes if the information is correct, then it might be a more interesting way to absorb information.
There is a great risk for me here at WoodyBoater to do this, TRUST. Transparency. I put trust at the top of the food chain here. And AI is sleezy. But Shannon is so beyound correct. It’s here. Figure it out, or it wil figure you out. WoodyBoater has always been about bringing new ideas to the table, The first APP, First real internet experience for many, all sorts of dumb ideas. Pushing it out into the classic boat world. WHICH I might add is the poster child of keeping things as is. SO there is a fasinating tension here.
OMG….. Mornings are never going to be the same again! 🙀
HAHAHHA! Are they ever the same here?
I’m 70 and have been retired for close to 10 years now. My brother, is 65 and semi retired, but still likes to take Consulting gigs both for income stream and to stay in the game. Our approach to the use, understanding, and willingness to incorporate AI tech tools and specifically AI Bots is quite different.
I have no interest in creating AI Bots to manage my work performance, time management and any other aspect of my life, that said, I welcome AI driven Google Gemini searched that have taken me down new and interesting rabbit holes.
My brother, on the other hand has embraced certain elements of AI with his consultancy work and believes it saves him time in organizing his thoughts, preparing both written reports, power point presentations and most of his work products. He knows and understands the hazards of not using a critical eye and 40 plus years in his field to weed out the incorrect and problematic AI first drafts.
I happy I don’t have to fully engage AI at this time in my life, however, if I was twenty years younger and in a profession where AI will have a significant influence on that field of work…I would be attempting to master some level of AI proficiency before my career was in the toilet because I became obsolete.
Just for fun, I plugged this prompt into free ChatGPT… I’ve tweaked some of the settings so my results might differ from yours, but if youre interested, try it out! “Read this blog post and all the comments. Summarize the opinions for and against including reasoning. Propose the best path forward for this website. https://www.woodyboater.com/classic-boat-art/you-may-need-to-sit-down-for-this-one-we-shot-some-video-yesterday/#comments“
The link leads back to here?
You can copy and paste the words and link between the quotation marks into chatGPT as the prompt.
I did that, and its cool, gave a nice bit of feedback in a very usable way. Dang.
And the psycho is back….
Wait. Please explain how one can state that Ai is sleezy, and then we need to just trust it. And EXACTLY who says we humans have to just throw up our arms and say, “Oh well, it is here to stay.”
Why? Because Elon or Zuc says so? Forget that.
There has to be a fundamental reason why it is called Artificial Intelligence. The hypocrisy is programmed into the name.
Oh look, a squirrel….
The only one behaving like a psycho in this string is you.
Put down your phone, go take a walk and enjoy nature.
On a recent trip to Croatia, I learned all I’ll ever need to know about AI.