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Showing posts with label A.I.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A.I.. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Bringing Houdini to 2026
I thought I could avoid TikTok for the rest of my life, but this is just too much fun. Welcome to the future, Harry.
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Saturday, May 2, 2026
Adventures in AI
However, there are tasks that AI is pretty darn good at, such as translation. My ability to quickly and easily translate German, Russian, French, and Dutch Houdini posters and newspaper articles has unlocked new information about Houdini's performances in these countries. It's a game-changer that has gone a long way in helping me solve the Germany problem, and has greatly benefited my book.
However, things get trickier when it comes to using AI for research. While it's very good at very specific tasks – such as finding a street address for a long-gone circus building in 1901 – it's not good at deep Houdini research. Its knowledge of Houdini is basic and largely inaccurate. Also, as I recently discovered, it will lie. Not "hallucinate." That's a word people use, but I think it's too polite. AI will deliberately lie and even fabricate evidence for that lie. I know because it happened to me.
I spelled out my experience for my patrons below and have also provided the entire chat between Gemini and me. I think you will be as shocked as I was. There's also a good discussion in the comments.
Ironically, here's what AI has to say about using AI for research:
AI can be extremely useful for mechanical and organizational tasks in historical work. It is much more dangerous when used as an unverified “research assistant,” because AI systems can invent facts, citations, quotations, dates, and even nonexistent books or newspapers.
It's a wild new world! Be careful out there.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
"Blood of Houdini" cinematic pop anthem
This is a little overwrought (and likely AI), but I think that's the style of "cinematic pop anthem," and I can't help but get the feels because, you know, he's singing about his connection to Houdini! 🎵 I may not be him, but I carry the flame.🎵 This one might stick in your head.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
How to spot AI writing
This video doesn't have anything to do with Houdini, but it is worth watching as we enter an era of AI-generated Houdini content. I think it's good to know what to look for and know when you are in the hands of a human or a bot. The use of the em dash alone was eye-opening for me. Enjoy.
And, of course, AI continues to get Houdini facts wrong. You can read an example of this in today's Patreon post.
Friday, May 30, 2025
The fatalist in Seattle
Here's a nice clipping of Houdini doing a suspended straitjacket escape from the Seattle Times building on October 19, 1915. This was during Houdini's week-long run at Seattle's Orpheum Theater located on 3rd & Madison. It was his first appearance in the city.
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| Seattle Daily Times, Oct. 20, 1915 |
While finding a new photo of Houdini is always great, I get just as excited when I discover a nugget such as the below. This is an early mention of Houdini's belief in reincarnation and fatalism, and how he came to hold these beliefs.
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| Seattle Daily Times, Oct 22, 1915 |
A fatalist is a person who believes that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. A fatalist believes in destiny. Houdini would often describe himself as a fatalist. The earliest mention I've found was in 1909, and the latest was in 1924. You could say that it was a core philosophy.
Hey, let's see what Google's A.I. has to say about this:
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| WRONG |
This week, Houdini sat for a new series of publicity photos at the studio of F. C. LaPine at 1109 Third Avenue in Seattle. One of those famous portraits is below.
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| The Fatalist |
What's left of Houdini's Seattle? Not much. The Orpheum was demolished in 1949. The Seattle Times building stood on the northeast corner of 2nd Ave. and Union St. Like so many Houdini locations, a parking lot stands on the site today.
You can read more about Houdini in Seattle at HistoryLink.org. You can also continue on to his next stop, Portland.
Want more? I've uploaded a file of newspaper clippings related to Houdini's 1915 Seattle engagement, along with a few more articles in which he describes himself as a fatalist, to my Patreon.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Houdini window display at the Culver Hotel
Last night I enjoyed seeing The Living Daylights in Culver City as part of a series of classic James Bond film screenings co-organized by our friend Neil McNally of The Doug Henning Project. But I can never escape Houdini, and after the screening, I went and took a look at this curious window display at the historic Culver Hotel.
Sorry, Knickerbocker, our A.I. overlords have spoken. The Final Houdini Seance took place on the roof of the Culver Hotel. And that's Houdini's top hat.
The display was a hodgepodge of "vintage" items, so I'm unsure what to make of it. Are we to believe this is Houdini's top hat? I do know that two authenticated Houdini top hats exist in the collections of John Hinson and Roger Dreyer.
The Culver Hotel was built in 1924. Houdini briefly visited Los Angeles that year to give his spiritualism lecture, but he stayed at the Biltmore Hotel. It's unlikely he ventured outside of the downtown area as this was a quick whistle stop on his lecture tour. So I'm not aware of any Houdini connection to the Culver Hotel.
Of course, if we ask Google's A.I., we get a very different answer:
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| WRONG |
If you're interested in catching a Bond movie and viewing the display for yourself (the hotel sits directly across from the Culver Theater), here's the current film lineup with more to come.
Thanks to Dr. Larrian Gillespie for the tip about the display and Bob Mitsch for the above photo.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Top Gun Houdini
We all know that Houdini registered for the draft when the United States entered the first World War. We also know he never called due to his age. The draft would have likely sent him into the Army, but the clipping below shows Houdini was gunning for another branch of the military.
Yes, the world's worst sailor envisioned himself as a Navy man. I guess he'd be okay as long as he stayed in the air. Fortunately or unfortunately, we never got Top Gun Houdini.
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| The Jersey Journal, Aug 21, 1915. |
Yes, the world's worst sailor envisioned himself as a Navy man. I guess he'd be okay as long as he stayed in the air. Fortunately or unfortunately, we never got Top Gun Houdini.
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| A.I. generated image (obviously) |
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Tuesday, April 22, 2025
I hate AI and the feeling appears to be mutual
WILD ABOUT HARRY has just crossed over 16 million pageviews. You know who isn't impressed by that? Google. 15 years, 5782 posts, 21781 comments, and 16 million page views. Yet when I asked Google's generative AI to recommend a good Houdini blog, here's the list I got:
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Hey, at least Joe Notaro's Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence made the list. I can't argue with that choice. And to be fair to Google, my blog does very well in the traditional links. It can even land at #1. Which makes the AI results even more bizarre. But as Houdini would say, "Such is life."
Thank you for visiting and supporting WILD ABOUT HARRY over the years. Even you bots!
Monday, March 24, 2025
Houdini turns 151
We just wrapped up Houdini's birthday celebration on Zoom with Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum and a great gathering of Houdini nuts. We went for five hours and I think everyone had a good time, especially the guy below.
Below are some links to new books we discussed, including The Cancer of Superstition, which releases today!
Houdini The Ultimate Trivia Compendium (Collectors Edition)
and
Thanks to Michael Albright and The Magic Castle Facebook page for the above image.
Friday, March 7, 2025
Houdini and the windmill
Ever hear the one about Houdini and the Dutch windmill? The story first appeared (as far as I can find) in an article by Walter B. Gibson called "Houdini's Last Interview Revealed His Narrow Escapes." This ran in several newspapers in December 1926. Below is an excerpt from the Wichita Falls Times.
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| Wichita Falls Times, Dec. 5, 1926 |
This windmill story appears in Harold Kellock's Houdini: His Life Story and Milbourne Christopher's Houdini: The Untold Story. I suspect Christopher got it from Kellock, and Kellock got it from Gibson. Try as I might, I've never been able to find any evidence or independent source for this story, and most current biographies omit it.
So is the windmill story fiction, or just another example of the Germany problem (which encompasses the Netherlands)? If any of you research bloodhounds want something to track down, this would be a good one! It would have happened in May or June 1902 when Houdini was with the Circus Corty-Althoff in Holland.
It's worth noting that this Gibson article also contains what appear to be the first appearances of the stories about Houdini being tied to railroad tracks in Dresden, and being tied to the back of a horse in Nova Scotia in 1896. Those are also tales of outdoor stunts gone wrong that I've never been able to confirm.
Want more? You can read the full "Houdini's Last Interview" by Walter B. Gibson as a Scholar member of my Patreon. Fact or fiction, it's good stuff!
Top image A.I. generated.
UPDATE: For those who don't like my A.I. image, here's an illustration from the March 1928 Tales of Magic and Mystery. Thanks to Joe Notaro for this one.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
A.I. finally gets Houdini right and... Wow!
A.I. images of Houdini have been generally awful. However, an article today on the website 450.fm has A.I. images that finally get Houdini right. VERY right. I mean, wow! I also like that the website credits these as "AI images," which I think is the correct and ethical thing to do.
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The top image shows Houdini in Masonic robes. However, this is Houdini circa 1917, and Houdini didn't become a Mason until 1923 when he looked somewhat different. But that's nitpicking. I'm pretty impressed with this, and I see now how A.I. opens the door to seeing images of Houdini that would otherwise not be possible. Houdini in the Hodgson restraints. Houdini tied to a canon. Houdini in the Sangow. Houdini smashing up the Houdina Co. Of course, a talented artist could do the same thing.
As far as A.I. generated Houdini facts go... Yeah, still terrible.
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Sunday, February 25, 2024
Sunset Harry
Our friend Dean Carnegie recently shared this image on his Instagram. Yes, I know I just did a post about how A.I. can't get Houdini right. But in this case it did, and offers us a glimpse at what could have been. It's kinda moving, actually.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Houdini A.I. is inaccurate, artless, and everywhere
Gaze above at what A.I. thinks Houdini looks like. As with almost everything A.I. generates in regards to Houdini, it's wrong and weird. And the deeper you look, the more wrong and weird it gets. Note the three legs on the man in the photo above his shoulder.
But here's the thing. This distinctive A.I. Houdini is now showing up everywhere. I can't do a Google search without seeing this face. Even the A.I.-generated "books" that flood Amazon these days are using this face on their covers.
With the hundreds of public domain images or Houdini out there, why would anyone feel the need to generate an image that is so bizarrely wrong? But I'm actually happy about this. Why? Because when you see this face, you'll know whatever it's attached to is A.I.-generated slope. It's the tell of a con man.
Okay, so A.I. doesn't yet have a handle on Houdini's image. I'm sure it will get better. But what about A.I.'s handle on Houdini information and facts?
Not long ago, a reader emailed saying he was trying to date the film of Houdini doing a suspended straitjacket escape in St. Paul. He asked ChatGPT, and it told him:
"Harry Houdini performed one of his famous suspended straitjacket escapes in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 30, 1915. The event took place in front of a crowd of thousands of spectators who gathered near the St. Paul Athletic Club."
Wow, amazing, right? Except it's wrong.
On September 30, 1915, Houdini did a suspended straitjacket escape from the Tribune Building in Minneapolis, not St. Paul. Houdini's St Paul suspended straitjacket escape happened during the week of February 12, 1923, from the Daily News building. That is the escape we see in the film. (I confess I don't yet know the exact day.)
Why did ChatGPT mention the St. Paul Athletic Club? Heck if I know. The reader suggested maybe it was close to the Daily News building. But if ChatGPT knows that, then it should have just told you the actual location! As far as "a crowd of thousands," sure, that's a given for any Houdini outdoor escape.
So, apart from getting the date wrong, the location wrong, and confusing it with another escape entirely, it did a great job!
As far as entire articles about Houdini written by A.I., even the ones that get their facts right are, to my eye, just a rambling string of sentences and paragraphs that repeat the same thing in different ways with little shape or structure. They have no point of view and no art to them. For me, they are as wrong and weird as these A.I. Houdini images.
I hope I don't sound like a stick in the mud and that I'm just resisting the inevitability of A.I. I like technology and I like new tools. I use Grammarly as my copy editor and love it. And when A.I. finally figures out what Houdini looks like (and how many limbs a person has), it could be a nice way to whip up an image of him doing, say, the cannon challenge, for which we have no known photo. But, for now, I think Houdini is in better hands when they are human.
And now a few words about A.I. from Adam Conover.
Below are examples of some more Houdini A.I., both good and bad.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
When AI generates your Houdini facts (update)
I don't know if AI really generated the below "list of Houdini's famous underwater escapes." But I don't know how any human could get so much so bizarrely wrong. This accompanied an article published last month at poolmagazine.com. Enjoy!
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| Click to enlarge. |
Here's the depressing part. If you Google "Houdini," this article will show up in your news feed before any post here on WILD ABOUT HARRY. In fact, none of my posts will ever show up in Google's news feed. Maybe because the algorithm knows I'm human.
Or am I?
UPDATE: The good folks at Pool Magazine reached out for some help and the article has now been updated with, if I say so myself, a darn good list of Houdini's underwater escapes. Score one for humans! Check it out here.
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Houdini used to demo new AI tool LiveStory
Last year MyHeritage developed an AI tool that brought old photographs to life. It's was wild tech that allowed us some fun with Houdini images. Now the site is back with an enhanced version called LiveStory, and they've used Houdini to demo it!
"Houdini" makes more than a few mistakes about his life here. Of course, the real Houdini did as well, so maybe that makes this all the more real! The idea that Harry and Bess met in 1893 and were married a year later is an error I keep seeing repeated. Were is this coming from, I wonder?
You can read more about LiveStory at New Atlas.
Sunday, March 7, 2021
More amazing AI brings Ehrich Weiss to life
I had planned on holding this back until Houdini's birthday. But I've decided to run with it today as the reaction to my first post featuring these AI animations by MyHeritage was so popular. (I also fear this viral sensation might be played out by March 24.) My approach has been to create animations that have no possible film equivalent. So below are three combined images showing the young Ehrich Weiss from ages 8 to 18. And this time in color!
Here's a bonus. Who is this stranger you ask? Well, let's just say if you are a fake medium you definitely don't want to see him in your seance chamber!
If you want to animate your own photos, MyHeritage offers a 14 day free trial.
UPDATE: I do know Houdini's eye color is wrong. His eyes should be blue. But I don't have any control over that. I just upload pics to the app and it makes it own color decisions unfortunately.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
"Don't do anything without declaring me in."
Here are a few treats to celebrate Hardeen's birthday today. Dash was born Ferenc Dezso Weisz on March 4, 1876 in Budapest, Hungary. But like his famous brother, he always claimed Appleton as his birthplace and adopted February 29 as his birthday (showing he had a sense of humor about all this).
Let's start with one of my
all time favorite posters for either brother. If Houdini ever created a poster
depicting a bridge jump, I've not see it. But it would be tough to do better
than this one. This appeared on the back of the July 1945
Conjurers Magazine "Hardeen Memorial Issue". How I would love to see
this in its original color.
Next is a terrific trade ad from the July 7, 1907 issue
of Variety announcing Hardeen's return to America. There's
a lot to love here, including a nice mention of trailblazing agent Jenie
Jacobs. But I especially enjoy those lines at the bottom.
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| Click to enlarge. |
Finally, I couldn't resist running Hardeen through the MyHeritage AI app which is all the rage at the moment. What little film of
Hardeen that exists comes from much later in his life, so here we see him
come to life in his early Handcuff Kings days.
Happy birthday Dash!
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
AI brings Houdini photos to life and it's wild!
I'm sure many of you have seen the latest viral sensation from MyHeritage that uses AI to animate old photographs in a way that is positively haunting. Of course, I had to run Houdini through this and the results are...positively haunting! This is a photo from my own collection. Witness the 20-year-old Houdini come to life.
I also couldn't resist seeing Houdini's parents in motion, especially as there is no known film footage of them. If only Houdini could see this.
If you're not freaked out enough already, here's one more I couldn't resist. Houdini's ectoplasmic face mask come to life. Believe.
If you want to animate your own photos, MyHeritage offers a 14 day free trial. You can also enhance and colorize photos in a way that is pretty impressive.
UPDATE: I couldn't resist going younger and color! Check out: More amazing AI brings Ehrich Weiss to life.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Houdini aged
If you're on social media you've no doubt encountered FaceApp (which may or may not be a Russian plot). People have been using the photo filtering app to see what they'll look like when old. I'm in no rush to see my older self, but I've always been curious what Houdini would have looked like had he lived to old age. So I took a photo from 1926 and ran it through the app. Here's old Harry. I think he looks great!
If you're curious, here's the original pic. This was taken during his trip to testify in Washington D.C. in May 1926.
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If you're curious, here's the original pic. This was taken during his trip to testify in Washington D.C. in May 1926.
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