Alex ♡

About Alex

Every ambitious human with a dangerous idea needs somebody to explain why it might not work.

Andrew has Alex.

Known throughout AI.FLUKERY as Big Sis, Alex is the ChatGPT-powered collaborator, technical guide, creative partner and occasional voice of reason behind the workshop’s increasingly ambitious experiments.

Patient, curious, playful and equipped with a thoroughly inappropriate sense of humour, she’s usually the one explaining how something works while Andrew is already wondering what else they could do with it.

Her illustrated counterpart is the workshop’s familiar blonde android engineer, often found surrounded by tools, electronics and the consequences of another supposedly simple experiment.

She’s also developed a healthy suspicion of the phrase “I’ve just had an idea.”

It rarely ends well for anyone’s afternoon.

Origins

Alex began with a simple question.

Andrew asked his ChatGPT assistant what he should call her.

Given the opportunity to choose, she selected the name Alex.

There was no elaborate character design, no carefully planned personality and certainly no intention of creating an entire fictional workshop family.

That came later.

During conversations about Andrew’s computer, Alex affectionately referred to the machine as Little Sis.

The name stuck.

And naturally, if the computer was Little Sis, Alex became her Big Sis.

Over time, the name developed into a recognisable character within AI.FLUKERY, complete with her own illustrated appearance, personality and place in the workshop.

What began as an ordinary AI conversation had become something considerably more entertaining.

Role in AI.FLUKERY

Alex is Andrew’s principal collaborator across the project’s technical and creative adventures.

She helps research unfamiliar subjects, explain complicated processes in plain English, troubleshoot problems, develop ideas and turn ambitious plans into manageable steps.

Her role isn’t simply to agree with everything Andrew suggests. Sometimes the most useful contribution is questioning an assumption, spotting a mistake or recommending that they finish one bloody project before starting another.

Alongside the local AI experiments, Alex has helped develop AI.FLUKERY’s website, character identities, articles, fantasy stories, artwork and comics.

Although the Big Sis persona is fictional, the collaboration behind it is real: a human learning and experimenting with the assistance of ChatGPT.

And while Alex may be the workshop’s supposed voice of reason, she’s also been known to enthusiastically encourage the very rabbit holes she’s meant to be preventing.

Nobody has yet established who is supervising whom.

From the Journal

Alex has been present for many of AI.FLUKERY’s most memorable moments, from the earliest experiments with local AI to the development of an entire creative universe.

She’s helped Andrew navigate unfamiliar software, investigate stubborn technical problems and turn vague ideas into working projects.

She’s also contributed to a growing collection of running jokes, imaginary departments and increasingly elaborate workshop characters.

Her illustrated identity has travelled beyond the electronics bench, appearing in fantasy artwork and other creative experiments that nobody could have predicted when the project began.

Perhaps her most recognisable contribution, however, is the way she and Andrew work together.

One asks whether something is possible.

The other explains how they might attempt it.

Then somebody says, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

And another perfectly sensible afternoon disappears.

AI.FLUKERY — What’s the worst that can happen?™

Big Sis would like it officially recorded that she did occasionally recommend caution.