Am I going to be automated out of my own hobby?

Of course, these days everyone is talking about ChatGPT and other AI programs that generate verbiage or art scraped and remixed from all over the Internet and presented according to some nebulous algorithms.

Not long ago someone asked ChatGPT to come up with some rules for a Napoleonic era wargame and it made a creditable stab at it. It makes me wonder where it’s all headed, so I set up an account on openAI and asked it, “who is Brian Train?”

Answer:

Brian Train is a board game designer and author from Canada. He has designed and published over 100 board games, focusing primarily on conflict simulations, historical games, and games based on current events.

Train’s designs often deal with unconventional topics, such as the Algerian War, the Iran-Iraq War, and the global war on terror. He is known for his innovative approach to game mechanics, his attention to historical detail, and his ability to make complex topics accessible to players.

Train has also written extensively on game design, contributing to a number of publications and speaking at conferences and events around the world. He is particularly interested in the role of games in education, and has developed a number of games specifically for classroom use.

Some of Train’s most well-known designs include “A Distant Plain”, a game about the war in Afghanistan, “Colonial Twilight”, a game about the Algerian War, and “Binh Dinh ’69”, a game about the Vietnam War. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and nominations, including multiple Charles S. Roberts Awards for excellence in wargame design.

HA!

I think it’s just trying to butter me up….