I love to crochet. It’s my hobby, my passion, and (at times) my side hustle.
I do not, on the other hand, love writing crochet patterns. It’s so tedious! I’d much rather freehand a piece of crochet work, changing my stitches as needed.
So, when I saw a few TikToks about crocheters and other fiber artists using AI to write patterns, my interest was piqued.
Why Use ChatGPT?
Like it or not, artificial intelligence and machine learning are here to stay. I am generally interested in how this technology will be integrated into our daily lives and jobs.
I’m not really interested in having a bot write out crochet patterns for my small business. However, I do enjoy playing around with this new technology to see what it can do.
So, with trembling fingers, I opened up ChatGPT.
The Prompt
I asked ChatGPT the following:
“Write a crochet pattern for a green alien riding in a silver UFO. Make the pattern an intermediate level pattern.”
I wrote this prompt back in January. Asking ChatGPT to write me a crochet pattern was probably the second or third thing I did when first messing around with the chatbot.
So, I didn’t have that much experience with writing prompts. Now, after some more self-taught experience, my prompts are much more detailed. The results I receive are much more high-quality.
If I did this exercise today, would I have framed the question differently? Probably. But I’ve already made my crochet alien, and I’m not going to start over again!
The Pattern
I waited with bated breath as ChatGPT’s AI brain was whirling and computing. My yarn and crochet hook were ready, but was the chatbot? What kind of response would I receive?
I was pleasantly surprised.
What I got was a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill crochet pattern!
While I personally don’t consider ChatGPT’s crochet pattern to be “intermediate,” it’s pretty solid. The structure and wording match the usual structure of human-written patterns. Also, it’s very easy to read and follow.
I guess my new friend got kind of tired halfway through because the pattern abruptly cut off when it got to the alien’s arms.
After a gentle reminder, it got back to work.
With my completed AI crochet pattern now finished, I was ready to make my masterpiece.
The Big Reveal
Okay, are you ready? Here’s my AI-created crochet alien and spaceship:
It’s actually kind of cute, right?! This little theyby came out way better than anticipated! I named them AILIEN.
While this isn’t exactly how I would crochet an alien on my own, it’s not a bad pattern.
It’s just three crochet balls and some simple arms. I chose the safety eyes and stuffed AILIEN with some upcycled polyfill and yarn scraps.
Also, I used the recommended H/5mm hook size. It created the exact alien size I was envisioning.
The only major issue was the “spaceship.” It came out way smaller than AILIEN. It looks more like a space pebble than anything else. Oh well.
In classic “me” fashion, I didn’t totally follow the pattern that was given to me. Oops. I excluded the legs from my final product because I didn’t like the way they looked.
Besides, AILIEN doesn’t need legs. They can levitate.
Will AI Replace Makers?
No. The world still needs makers, thinkers, and artists. I am a firm believer in that.
Sure, AI will take over some of the more mundane tasks that we humans don’t enjoy doing. But humans will always crave connection with other humans.
There will always be people out there who value art and original thinking. AI is confined to regurgitating new versions of what is already out there (at least for now). It will never replace originality, high-quality content, or creativity.
Think of your favorite book or painting. Would you really wanna read an AI-generated version of that book? How would you feel if you learned that painting took, like, 5 seconds to make and had no human touch at all?
I personally wouldn’t enjoy either of those things in the same way if they were created by artificial intelligence.
ChatGPT: Final Thoughts
Overall, I think the rise of OpenAI’s chatbot and similar products can be a positive thing if utilized responsibly.
As a freelance content writer, I’m already integrating tools like ChatGPT and Jasper into my workflow. These tools are great supplemental sources for idea generation and intro paragraphs, but they’re not writing entire articles for me.
So, will ChatGPT replace my own mind when it comes to writing crochet patterns? For now, no.
But it was a fun experiment and learning process!
✨ If you want to make your own AILIEN, you can find the entire AI-written crochet pattern on my blog.
✨ If you somehow made it all the way down here, you can read what I write about reading at Far Flung Readers.
✨ If you liked this article and want more crochet in your life, check out my crochet side hustle.
