158 A.I. CLAUDIUS...

I was messing around with Claude, the A.I. app, as it looks like a decent alternative to ChatGPT - not that I can find much wrong with ChatGPT, but variety is the spice of life and all that. I'm not up to manipulating A.I. to achieve what I want, so I'd run some tests to see what it produces.

I asked the app to create a logo for our team, completing the rally from Liverpool to Monaco and back. I asked it to make it using the name 'Dirty Martin', the Martini Racing colours, and 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' in the image.

It took my request and created a basic image, which I then fettled, asking the A.I. to change fonts and colours, move elements around, and add things like the 'martini' in the glass. Barring a bit of back-and-forth with the positioning of the little squares in each corner, it did exactly what I asked the first time, which impressed me.

What I also like about Claude is that after it accepts your request, it displays the code it generated, and when changes are made, it shows the code being rewritten on the screen. It is like having your own designer/coder working on the project, which it is, I guess.

What I've found with A.I.: it is an assistant, not a replacement. The initial concept was all A.I., but everything else was designed by me, with Claude doing the heavy lifting in the background.

It is excellent for getting the ball rolling and for following instructions, but it isn't smart enough yet to complete a project on its own with significant instruction.

OK, so the logo isn't the most sophisticated or detailed, but it fits the ethos of 'having a go without really knowing what we are doing' that we are going for. Like the car, there is a thin veneer of quality covering a thick layer of winging it.

It is a nice start. I might mess around with it over Christmas and tweak it to improve it. Even if I don't, it will look good on a t-shirt as it is, I reckon...