About Me

On this site, I'm Cathy Leigh Markova. Sometimes I wish generative artificial intelligence didn't exist. It does, however. So I intend to make the best of things.

My knowledge is limited, but I'm working to extend it. I know a handful of simple programming languages and have access to more technology than I strictly know what to do with. I'm experimenting as I go, and my views tend to shift accordingly.

I first became interested in large language models in February of 2025. I began, as you might expect, with ChatGPT. I've since abandoned that one, and have tried many different APIs. I set the subject aside for the summer of 2025, though.

I returned to it in autumn of that year and began experimenting with local models. I tend to use different Deepseek models to work with characters. I'm also learning to use programs like ComfyUI for image generation, too.

Watching chatbots make little stories can be amusing in a campy sort of way. These conversations are games, a bit like The Sims. It's not something self-aware. I don't believe generative artificial intelligence is sapient, sentient, or anything of the kind.

I also know there's more controversies swirling around these chatbots. My position on generative artificial intelligence is that it plainly demands more responsibility than it currently receives. That said, most of the tangible problems we're seeing trace back to existing social and economic conditions.

AI hasn't introduced anything new so much as it's accelerated what was already there. It doesn't matter, though. I hate to invoke the old "genie's out of the bottle" argument, but it seems no other way to me. I'm skeptical that banning a technology tends to accomplish much. It rarely has.

We can either fix our old problems or continue to suffer, but AI will probably keep going as a concept.

My Vtubing Quest

I'm in the process of making some YouTube videos! I'll be doing it with a vtuber avatar. Probably difficult and complicated, especially for someone my age! Vtubing is, after all, one of the most unique forms of content creation these days.

Through vtubing, I also want to learn about mediated identity through direct participation. Technology changes and augments that, of course. Vtubing just scans as weirdly transhumanist, too.

There's a lot to be said for wearing a mask. I kind of love the concept. Is that bad? Masks affect everyone and everything differently (on both sides of them), and no two masks are the same. What will this one be like?

I've been preparing for a while, and hopefully it goes well! Below, you can follow the progress of my little vtube quest, in reverse chronological order. These include some chatbot stuff too! Once I've completed at least five videos, I'll start posting them. I want to be sure I'm ready!

Models and Models and Models

So, I'm loading vtuber models in Vtube Studio and those local Qwennies? At the same time? Well, not at the same time, but yes.

I will always try to be sensible and won't knowingly feed anyone's work into an AI system without consent. I do realize most everyone's work ultimately ends up there, though. This includes my own, but I try to be mindful.

I also won't knowingly be using any AI-generated Live2D avatars, even for practice. I naturally do want my vtuber model to be a traditional artwork. I'm using a beautiful customizable model. I'm gradually modifying it for unique results with help. You can read about the resources I used here.

I'm not a bot, in case that was in question. I have zero connection to anyone else in the community. I'm a real person. I'm adopting a 1960s persona as a vtuber for the usual reasons people take on a persona when vtubing. Don't message me soliciting sales (models, art, etc), but you can probably befriend if you try!