"HoundBytes" a student run online magazine for Eastern New Mexico University. Students write articles about current events happening on campus or in Portales, New Mexico, as well as other articles that might appeal to the students at ENMU. In May of 2023, "HoundBytes" printed a special edition magazine fully written by artificial intelligence (AI) programs. Everything from the short stories, poems, and artwork are written and created by AI. The creation of this magazine was a joint effort between the students that are a part of "HoundBytes" and their advisors.
Logan O’Brian, a senior at ENMU, said that the idea for an AI generated magazine came from a genuine curiosity for what an AI program is capable of. "We thought it would be cool to show the creative side of it" O’Brian commented. When "HoundBytes" started to develop this magazine they wanted to be the first university to create a publication fully using AI. By telling the AI system that these stories were for a student run magazine in a rural community, the AI was able to tell the students what it thought should be included in the publication. Once the AI had decided on what the magazine should include they prompted it to write three different versions of the short stories and poems. Logan explained, "We would have three poems about the same topic, we would give it back to the AI and ask it which poem should go in the magazine." The AI also recommended the art that should be in the magazine. The students inputted the descriptions that the AI gave them into a program called DALL-E, an AI program that generates art.
Once all of the stories were written and chosen by AI, the "HoundBytes" team decided to not edit the work at all. Logan said, "We wanted to show both its full creativity without human intervention and also its flaws." This special edition of "HoundBytes" shows the new concept of a human and AI relationship in the world of journalism and how it might change the world of writing. "We can utilize this as a tool… and use it to help write more articles at a time," Logan explained. AI programs can be a helpful tool for the world of writing and editing. An AI program can help with, "writers block, and writing styles." The "HoundBytes" team that worked on the magazine ran everything through a plagiarism checker to be sure that nothing that was being written for the magazine was plagiarized; however, art could not be checked in the same way. Because of this, the students generated the AI art using DALL-E and asked it to make the art "as unique as possible," Logan explained. Logan hopes that this magazine affects future publications of "HoundBytes" in a positive way, "Since "HoundBytes" is student run I hope that AI could streamline the process to where "HoundBytes" can always be published." This magazine truly is one of a kind, and gives readers the opportunity to experience a fully AI written piece of literature.
