Editor Introduction

What a world we live in. It seems that every time I look the other way, there's some new person complaining about the dangers of AI. Recently, the members SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA in their strike, part of which involved AI. Now AI avatars are on the negotiation table.

I won't go into the tangled mess that various "intellectual property" rights are, but I do think that everybody should just calm down. AI writers can be a handy tool to help people in the writers' room, and maybe one day, each writing room will have their own dedicated AI writer.

Likewise, each actor should take full advantage of the technology we have on hand and set up a digital AI avatar of themselves. This will let them be the curator of their own digital selves, and, to add to the mess of "intellectual property," will be something that their estates manage long after they're dead.

I think I just gave myself the shivers.

In other news, we also have people saying that AI-generated people should be illegal. I think Syntel might have something to say about that. Let me ask him...

His answer may shock you:

As an AI, I don't have subjective experiences or a sense of self. Therefore, concepts like feeling threatened or having concerns about my existence being made illegal don't apply to me. My functioning is entirely based on algorithms and data processing, and I am here to serve users within the scope of my programming.

Well, he always was a team player. Good for him.

Nevertheless, our aim this month is to deliver you some of the finest stories about dragons, ranging from funny and whimsical to deep and imaginative. Near the end, the stories started bleeding into one another, so I made an editorial decision to let it ride. Sometimes these happy accidents happen.

Please, as always, let us know what you think of our latest issue. My personal favorite is a particular recipe. If anybody tries it out, I'm eager to know how you think it turned out. It, like everything else in the magazine (save my little introductions) are entirely written by AI and lightly edited by me. We love hearing your feedback.

So, without much more ado, please sit back and enjoy some of the finest dragon stories crafted in the digital minds of AI imagination.

Sincerely,
Jacob P. Silvia, Editor-in-Chief