Featured Article
When it comes to robots, we definitely reacted differently to the prospect IRL than we ever did in our fiction.
Welcome! I'm Cathy Leigh, and I'm trapped in the future. The 2020s, to be precise! I've been here long enough to get used to things, though. I've found plenty to keep me occupied, too.
This site focuses on 21st century artificial intelligence. That includes large language models, image generators, and more. I'll be sharing my thoughts and experiments with the technology itself.
Artificial intelligence intrudes in my life a lot, so I'd like to understand why it keeps changing my world, and how it might play a role in the future, for me and anyone else. I want to learn as much as I can about all this new technology despite my personal limitations. Here, I share that process.
I’ll also write about my opinions, especially how they change along with the technology itself! I chose “midcentury” as a title for my new site simply because I dearly miss that time period’s aesthetic and media. Midcentury science fiction was clearly no preparation for now, though.
Right now I'm putting together some vtube video vlogs, so stay tuned, quite literally, or have a look around for my articles and other material in the meantime.
Recent Site Updates
You'll find the most recent changes and additions to Midcentury below. You can view all past changes over here, or check out the site's RSS feed. The emojis are topical indicators here.
📌 Site Map
Every page on this site, organized by section to make things easy to find in a collapsing format that you can navigate quickly. It's a listing of pages without descriptions.
A running log of news articles I've collected over time, organized by category, with dates and short notes on each one. This page gets bumped whenever a new link gets added, and check back frequently!
📎︎ Joined the Fediverse...
I am now resident part of the Fediverse as @cathy@midcentury.now, and I created a nice UI for exploring what I do post in a glass case. Time will tell if anyone actually allows me to follow!
📸︎ Site renovations for vtubing preparations.
While none of the articles or major sections of this site are disappearing because of it, I'm beginning the (quite involved) process of aligning the site with my vtubing goals (and lore).
📎︎ Goodbye to ChatGPT and OpenAI
I won't be using ChatGPT or OpenAI again because of their intense involvement with the American regime. Maybe I'm only following trends, but that's just how it is.
Cool stuff used in the creation of this site, links to things I experimented with, and ways to contact me.
In the present day, physical realm, Tamara Jean Fournier is a mage with the tough job of containing unlawful magics. Here, she opens up about the other characters. We learn exactly why Erica Ellery is so strange, and why Lindy seems so confused.
And Also?
This site is generally worksafe. If you’re underaged, though, please leave right away. There’s just no telling what these machines will come out with, no matter how carefully you set them up. I did my best with the prompts I post. Please don’t hold me responsible for what your large language models decide to do!
I work with characters when I use these programs. Most of what I post is for characters. I don’t see any self-awareness in any of this, not for a minute. To me it’s just a very detailed, very elaborate game. A bit like playing with paper dolls, except they talk back. All the characters here are my own originals. They're not based on any real person, and nothing of that nature.