#38, Pennsylvania PA (Been There, AI Helps)

The first time I remember going through Pennsylvania was when visiting my parents in Schenectady, New York, and Cooperstown was sort of on the way. You may know that as the location for the Baseball Hall of Fame and we made a stop there, but not before navigating the mountains of Pennsylvania. Yeah, I didn't know there were any there either. We were driving our 1989 Plymouth Voyager—the original short-wheelbase model with the anemic 4-cylinder—and we were loaded with five people and luggage, with a roof top carrier filled as well. We would crawl up the mountain behind a semi doing 25 mph and then careen down the mountain at 100 mph hanging on for dear life. It was that trip I vowed to get the V-6 the next time I got a minivan. And I did.

I just had to say something about this set of drawings that CoPilot, Microsoft Edge's AI Assistant, drew for me for this Pennsylvania memory. I didn't have any photos of this journey so I tried AI. Here's what I asked for: "Draw me a photo of driving a minivan with a car-top carrier up a steep highway grade." I love the first one with all of us hanging onto the roof of the SUV. The second and third mistook me actually driving the minivan for driving an empty minivan on top of my SUV, and the last one is even clearer in that regard by a tow truck "driving" the minivan but flying down the highway instead of up the highway. To be fair, I did go careening down the hills extremely fast but that third drawing shows me burning rubber driving wildly up the mountain even though I was going about 25. Either way, AI has a long way to go or I have to learn how to better explain what I want. You've got to admit they are entertaining!

My actual 1989 Plymouth Voyager short-wheelbase minivan

So I thought I would try to clarify my request a bit better. I asked the AI, "Draw me a photo of me driving my family up a mountain with a car-top carrier of luggage in a burgundy minivan." The actual color of the small minivan was Claret Red which was close to a burgundy so I thought I'd try that color. AI responded with, "That sounds like an interesting request and a fun trip! I'll do my best to draw you a photo of me driving my family up a mountain with a car-top carrier of luggage in a burgundy minivan." I'll also add a photo of my actual minivan but I'm impressed that this first one was a far more accurate description of what happened, and the second one is what it imagined I had to do along the way. You have to admit that first AI drawing is a much better approximation of actual events, even though it looks more like a long-wheelbase Honda Odyssey with a V-6.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)