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| Recently, I was feeling discouraged about the long COVID I've had for a few
months, so I asked Gemini to write a story that would cheer me up. As
a bonus, Gemini's story got me thinking of a perfect example in my own
life. Below is the resulting true story, along with Gemini's fictional
story. Both stories cheered me up. Bruce |
|
A fictional story that Gemini wrote
Hank had always been a dreamer. His workshop was a cluttered mess of half-finished projects and discarded prototypes. He'd spent years tinkering with his latest invention, a device he envisioned revolutionizing the way people interacted with their homes. But time and again, his grand plans had been met with a series of unfortunate events. The batteries would explode, the circuits would fry, and the final product would inevitably malfunction in spectacular fashion. His financial situation was as bleak as his inventions. He'd invested his life savings in a promising tech startup, only to watch its stock plummet to a penny a share. The final straw came when his landlord threatened eviction if he didn't pay up the overdue rent. It seemed that Murphy's Law had taken up permanent residence in Hank's life. One day, as a last-ditch effort to salvage his finances, Hank checked the price of the worthless stock. To his astonishment, it had skyrocketed to $1000 a share. He must have typed in the wrong ticker symbol, he thought. But no, there was no mistake. The company had made a groundbreaking discovery that would revolutionize the industry. Investors couldn’t buy shares fast enough. Hank's fortunes had turned overnight. He was no longer a struggling inventor on the brink of financial ruin; he was a millionaire. The sudden influx of wealth buoyed his spirits and reignited passion for his invention. With renewed vigor, he returned to his workshop, determined to make his dream a reality. He tweaked the design, improved the functionality, and addressed the flaws that had plagued his earlier prototypes. Months later, he put his invention on the market. It was a resounding success, and it benefitted people all over the world. Hank’s story illustrates that even when hopelessness seems to have settled in for good, something unexpected can come along and replace hopelessness with bright hope. A true story from my past
When I was an engineer, the unexpected came along one day and rescued the small company I was working for. The prototype for the machine that was our company’s only product was finished. However, there was one unresolved problem that could doom our company. |
The mechanical engineer
blamed my electronics for this problem, and I blamed the linear bearing
that was part of the mechanism involved. The mechanical engineer insisted
that the linear bearing couldn’t possibly be the problem and he forbade
the adjustment I wanted to try. I wracked my brain for two weeks trying to find a problem in the electronics, but to no avail. It seemed that the problem with our machine couldn’t be fixed and that there was no hope for our little company. Our bank account was empty, and we needed to start selling machines--ones that worked!. Then, something unexpected happened! Our first customer had called us. He was having problems with the machine we had sold him (before we had known about the problem the machine sometimes had). His phone call certainly didn't seem like a good thing, but it was the first in a chain of events that saved our company. A mechanical technician and I flew across the country to try and fix this problem (that we hadn't been able to fix at our own facility!) When we arrived at the customer's factory, I asked the technician to increase the tension on the linear bearing a tiny amount. The mechanical engineer wasn't present to countermand the idea! I was finally able to convince the technician to disobey the engineer's orders and adjust the bearing's tension by turning a screw a quarter turn. The machine then worked flawlessly. The customer's call for help had been a blessing in disguise! Resonance from vibration in the linear bearing had been causing the problem. There was nothing wrong with the electronics! The insoluble problem had been solved. Our little company was saved by turning a screw a quarter turn! I'm reminded of the proverb Ben Franklin included in one of his almanacs: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost, etc.," with the final result being that the kingdom was lost. Too bad the unexpected didn't happen with someone showing up and saying, "Hey, I found this nail. Does it belong to you?" Bruce |
| Google's Gemini AI wrote the fictional story after being given this prompt: Write a story about an inventor named Hank who has encountered an
almost humorous string of bad luck. Everything he tried to make his
invention work failed miserably. One day he checked the price of a stock he had bought for $100 a share and that had declined until it was worth only five cents a share. When the Internet showed a price of $1000 per share, he figured he had typed in the wrong stock code. However, when he double-checked, he had not made a mistake. The company had made a huge discovery that would bring in lots of money. In one day, Hank's financial situation went from hopeless to exceedingly good. Prior to the sudden success of the company he had invested in, Hank had come to believe that he would be poor the rest of his life. He had tried to summon up some hope, but logic told him that there was no way things could improve for him. He had not counted on the possibility that something unexpected could change everything. Being buoyed up by his stroke of good luck, Hank began to hope again. Ideas for his invention started to flow again, and he eventually became very rich because of his invention's success. Note: Text in blue are words I've written to smooth out some rough spots, or to put in my own two-cents worth. |
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