Floating through time and space: Matthew Crosby

Star of Radio X and writer of countless TV comedies Matthew Crosby joins PastMaster on Easter Monday for a dose of time travel mayhem.

Heading for the smoggy streets of Victorian London, he sets out to change the news agenda and cheer folks up with a bit of showbiz razzle dazzle.

But things quickly take a dark turn, with shouts of ‘Murder!’ in the streets and a villain on the loose.

What we need is a detective - someone who can out-fox a fox. But who will step forward to solve the crime? And what is our Game Master’s attitude to opium dens?

Tune in to PastMaster next week to find out…

Victorian opium dens: relaxing

Does AI suffer from work anxiety?

This is a screengrab from Chat GPT as it struggled to deliver the exact kind of golden-eared headband we had asked for. (Golden ears to celebrate our nominations at the Golden Lobes awards next month…)

Like a broken computer it went on and on trying to explain itself. It just wouldn’t stop. It gibbered away like an overworked and underpaid cog in a corporate multinational, driven to a breakdown by unmeetable targets.

All we wanted was a picture of a headband with golden ears attached at normal ear height.

It’s Okay, GPT. Just relax, mate.

GPT’s golden ears: a bit too high

AI in the news

PastMaster action figurines: not real

The AI action doll trend on social media is the latest area to attract criticism for the way creative professionals’ livelihoods are being put at risk.

Now, it’s absolutely legitimate that musicians, authors and artists feel ripped off by the AI firms combing through their work in order to mash up and regurgitate it over and over again to the world.

But images of made up action dolls that don’t actually exist? I’m not sure who if anyone is being ripped off here. And look at the PastMaster figurines - one of us has three interchangeable heads, two microphones plug into soft drink cans and there is even a replaceable hand - presumably for when the gig is over and the microphones get put away…?

Sometimes AI is just bonkers and entertainingly weird - as Keon says, let’s at least have a laugh with it before it takes over the world.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Tan and the PastMaster crew.

PS if you’ve got any suggestions for what you’d like to see the PastMaster team try next, get in touch:

Instagram: @PastMasterPod

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Bluesky: @pastmasterpod.bsky.social

X: @PastMasterAI

Email: pastmasterpod@gmail.com