The Monstrous Crochet Creations of ChatGPT

Like a lot of people, Alex Woolner was instantly fascinated by ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot which took the internet by storm when it launched in November 2022. But instead of asking it to write screenplays or satirical poetry or magazine articles (OK, not really), she turned it toward her hobby: making cute crochet animals called amigurumi. "Crochet patterns in and of themselves are kind of like a code," says Woolner, who works for a study-abroad organization and also cofounded an arts and activism collective called Attack Bear Press. "I wanted to see what ChatGPT would produce if I asked it for a crochet pattern." The results were … well … adjectives such as "monstrous" spring to mind.