The prototype of this book began in mid-2023 as an 'art by research' project as part of my Visual Art Diploma at NCAT. During the process of my research, I began to listen and read more discussions between artists around generative AI tools, the ethical implications and to wonder 'is it art'? I wondered how regulation could catch up given the genie was well and truly out of the bottle and millions of artists' work had already been used without permission to 'train the bots'. Did this mean no-one should use the tools or should we use them with the intent to further discussion?

As an emerging creative practitioner, I was curious to try the tools and once I had sketched out my cake designs and began experimenting with MidJourney I saw just how seductive and impactful it could be - it was like a magic wand without a rule book. As I worked with it more, I felt the conflicting emotions of excitement and a confused sense of something like deceit - could I be pleased and proud of this work if I didn't model a single pixel? No one can deny how stunning the images were and coming from a VFX background, it felt just like a consumer friendly, highly accessible pre-visualisation tool. Conversely, sometimes the images had too much polish or they lacked the desired iterations, weird appendages appeared and questionable interpretations began to show the constraints of a machine tool.

As I experimented with Chat GPT to write the text, I began to notice more problems of AI, the text was repetitive and cliche, the nuance in my ideas got flattened by the programs machine 'brain' and often times I chose to edit passages. I tried to reach a balance that allowed the reader to see what AI could produce (funny, mundane, insightful or a bit lame) but also keep it readable.

In the end the project decided for itself - as I read the 'Before you Start to Make the Cake' section of the original book, I realised this was the opportunity to talk about my ideas, my fears and the 'baked in bias' - and so I wrote the intro 'Before you Fake the Cake'. In the credits, I thank the writers, artists and bakers who may have contributed to the AI data but can never be credited. And I thank the creators of the Women's Weekly 1980 original book who inspired generations of people, young and old.

The final book and the cake 'Rise Like a Phoenix' was accepted into the 'Women Now' Salon Exhibition at the Queen Victoria Women's Centre in December 2023. In just three weeks I worked with graphic designer Cat Sinclair to do the layout per the original 1980 version and finished the book. The cake was made by the team at Fantasy Cakes.

Following their debut in Women Now, they have now found a home in the shop at ACMI, Australia's National Museum for screen culture in Melbourne's CBD.