Isaac Asimov prefigured prompt engineering for visuals in his short story "Gold", about a science fiction author paying a CGI company to adapt one of his novels

Isaac Asimov prefigured prompt engineering for visuals in his short story "Gold", about a science fiction author paying a CGI company to adapt one of his novels. The process is presented as a performance... the voice actors act, and on the screen visuals appear that are entire generated by the computer. No rigging models and rendering. No drawing. Just dialing up the amount of "serpent" on a character in one scene, or dialing back on a character's age briefly. As the protagonist describes it: > It was watched in silence, and Willard said, "It was good, but I think you'll grant it was not good enough. I'm going to ask you all to listen to me, so that I can explain what we're trying to do. Computerized theater is not new, as you all know. Voices and images have been built up to beyond what human beings can do. You don't have to break your speechifying in order to breathe; the range and quality of the voices are almost limitless; and the images can change to suit the words and action. Still, the technique has only been used, so far, for childish purposes. What we intend now is to make the first serious compu-drama the world has ever seen, and nothing will do—for me, at any rate—but to start at the top. I want to do the greatest play written by the greatest playwright in history: King Lear by William Shakespeare. and later >"The snake motif," said Willard. "Give me some of that and there can be less hiss in Lear's voice. Of course, I don't want you to show a snake. The too obvious doesn't work. I want a snake there that people can't see but that they can feel without quite noting why they feel. I want them to know a snake is there without really knowing it is there, so that it will chill them to the bone, as Lear's speech should. So when we do it over, Meg, give us a snake that is not a snake."