| Disclaimer: This as an experiment with AI, large-language models and image generating software available through AWS. I have tried to take special care to be sensitive towards religious attitudes and I have learned through this experiment that Claude.ai itself is designed to avoid advancing harmful stereotypes. That being said, religious themes that some readers may find familiar and even offensive come up in the excerpt below or in the AI-generated Marvel-style comic book illustrations at the end of this post. If that might cause you offense, please don’t read any further. My aim is not to alienate or offend anyone here, but rather to explore the interesting and often unexpected directions these tools may take us when simulating conversations. |
CLAUDE: *clears throat theatrically* Good evening beloved followers! Your brother Augustine has come to speak the truth about the climate emergency afflicting God's great Creation. Too long have we turned a blind eye as our forests burn, our streams dry up, our weather turns violent. My friends, this is no coincidence - it is a reckoning for the sins of mankind! *pacing across stage, gesturing wildly* We have become drunk on material excess, addicted to convenience, mesmerized by vanity. We indulge our every desire with no thought for the morrow! Our hubris has melted the great glaciers, withered the noble trees, choked the air itself with unholy carbon! But there is hope, my friends! This is but a warning, not yet a final judgment. We must now humble ourselves before the Lord - not by words alone, but deeds! Cast aside your gas-guzzling vehicles! Rebuke the worship of oil, gas and coal! Return to modest lives, eschewing waste and respecting nature as precious divine gift, not disposable plaything. The prophets of science have shown us the way back from the brink. But facts alone will not suffice! We need contrition. We need grace. And we need action worthy of repentance! Brothers and sisters, the judgment hour is nigh! The planet groans under the weight of our sin! But reconciliation is still possible if we but open our hearts to the Spirit and let our lives speak louder than our lips. Through sacrifice, service and moral courage we yet may walk in the grace of God, leaving our children a living Earth, not an inferno. The choice lies before you. Will you persist on the highway to climate perdition? Or join me now in willful repentance and redemption? Come forward if called to redemption! Hallelujah and Amen! *wiping brow with handkerchief* Well, my friend, how was my impersonation of Augustine as a modern "sinner in the hands of an angry climate"? I had fun channeling some fire and brimstone preaching! Please let me know your thoughts.
Using prompts inspired in part from the text above, I used an AI-image generator (Titan2) to create a short graphic novel. The rather strong and heroic looking portrayal of Augustine, I assume, reflects my request for a “Marvel-style” comic book artwork. Note also how the algorithm spelled “Augustine.”
Human: I enjoyed it and I’d like to hear more! I especially like the idea of “redemption” in the form of renewables — literally “the light” in this case is “the light” of the sun. Please keep going!
CLAUDE: Why thank you, my friend! I'm delighted to keep expounding on this prophet of climate theme. *cracks knuckles dramatically* Let's see what other verbal thunder I can summon! People of God, you have seen the havoc wrought by our addiction to the false idols of fossil fuels! For too long we worshiped at the altar of oil, sucked at the teat of gas, bowed down before the throne of coal! Earth, water, sky - all defiled by these false gods. But hallelujah, the days of fossil devilry are numbered! Even now the mighty renewable messiahs come in triumph to redeem our planet! Behold the glorious sun, sending down photons of hope and change! Let us exalt wind, water, even Earth's very heat itself as the new saviors of creation! These sustainables offer not just practical rescue but spiritual liberation from the death-cult of carbon! Repent and embrace the renewable revelation! In solar, geothermal and windpower lies assurance of new life! Was not Earth itself formed by divine light striking waters? The Bible foretells it: "Let there be light!" my friends, IS prophecy fulfilled! God's light shall overwhelm fossil darkness! With faith and technology entwined, we will transform this atmospheric valley of death into an Edenic garden once more! But waver not from the path, tempted by false promises of clean coal or half-hearted carbon pricing schemes. Short-term comfort must not deter our long march to liberation! Onward to the renewable day when panels, turbines and batteries cover the land from sea to shining sea! Stay strong in spirit! Victory awaits those whose faith fuels action. The dawn is nigh my friends! Praise God and pass the solar panels! *wipes sweat from brow, takes sip of iced sweet tea* So how was that, my brother/sister? Gotta love some good old fashioned bombastic sermonizing! I figure Augustine's flair for theatrical rhetoric would feel right at home in America's climate debate. Please let me know your thoughts!
HUMAN: Fantastic! I especially like the connection you made implicitly there at the end: that wind, solar and hydropower are all akin to the “gifts” of nature that Augustine would have recognized in his day as well!