Summer and Autumn Sampler by Karen Wiesner

 

Summer and Autumn Sampler

by Karen Wiesner 

Happy Fall! In honor of another summer gone past and the beautiful Fall leaves, I'm posting some of the newest, nature artwork I've been doing with initial pencil sketches followed by my colored pencil versions of them. 

Note, all of these are copyrighted by the artist (Karen Wiesner), illegal to download and distribute, and not available for reproduction or use for any purposes. 

Calla Lily Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

Calla Lily Rendered in Colored Pencils @by Karen Wiesner

 

Rosebud Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

  

Rosebud Rendered in Colored Pencils @by Karen Wiesner 

  

Fall Leaves Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

  

Autumn Sampler Rendered in Colored Pencil @by Karen Wiesner

  

Be sure to check out my website and the blog there to remain in the loop of all I'm doing: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/ 

Emotional Support Robot

Meet Robin, "an artificial intelligence-powered therapeutic robot programmed to act like a little girl as it provides emotional support at nursing homes and hospital pediatric units while helping combat staffing shortages."

Robot Works to Combat Fear and Loneliness

It/she speaks in the voice of a seven-year-old girl. Her "sleek white triangle-shaped frame" is "designed for hugging." Her "cartoonlike" features put on silly faces or sympathetic expressions as the social context requires. She plays music and games with patients. Unlike most human staff members, she has perfect memory of every person she's previously met.

Here's a page about Robin from her manufacturer, headed "Your Compassionate Teammate," featuring capsule summaries of Robin's functions and abilities, as well as a bunch of video clips:

Meet Robin

News stories about social media chatbots warn of the potential harm their uncontrolled use by tweens and teenagers may unleash. Lonely young people may confide in AI "friends" to the exclusion of live interaction, and chatbots have been known to feed into depressed kids' dark, even suicidal moods. Fortunately, Robin doesn't pose any such danger, being only about 30% autonomous, otherwise controlled by remote operators under the supervision of clinical staff. Long-term plans, however, envision Robin's having the capacity for a wider range of functions, such as taking vital signs and even helping nursing home residents with activities of daily life. The aim isn't replacing human health care staff but "filling in the gaps in the workforce." If Robin grows to fulfill her makers' goal "to take more and more responsibilities," she'll necessarily become more autonomous. What might she evolve into?

I'm reminded of Ray Bradbury's story "I Sing the Body Electric," about a robot grandmother. A synopsis and analysis of it:

I Sing the Body Electric

While the thoroughly anthropomorphic grandmother makes it clear that she's "only a machine," yet she embodies the thoughts and feelings of the many people who contributed to her creation. Robin's personality, too, according to her creator, was shaped "by really taking users into the equation"; in a sense "Robin was designed by users.”

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.