Artificial Intelligence and the Poet.

While reading a story by a writer on another site, he mentioned how he used A.I. to see just how it works and the results he found when using it for poetry. Out of curiosity, I decided to go to the website and see for myself what it does. The results were shocking!

In less than two seconds, the bot came up with a poem from a title I put in. The title was only a quick jot from the idea I had, and yet what it produced was astonishing.

As amazing as it is, it's also dangerous and scary, threatening the creative process of an individual and his own thoughts. Imagine someone desperate for attention utilizing this process for personal gain at the expense of others.

Below is a poem I wrote. Below that is what A.I. produced using the same title: "Word Dehydration," which I changed to "Fragments of the Tongue."

---

Fragments of the Tongue

He's caught
in
doldrums

dialog from
thought to pen
severed somehow

from inception to
verse
direct current
fell into a slump

wellsprings
were
diverted
then wound up
dehydrated

something's
missing
free verse
feels hijacked

any narrative
fades
a dry
chemical energy

---

This is what A.I. came up with in (2 seconds):

---

Word Dehydration

In the desert of thought, where silence sprawls,
The echoes of whispers fade into walls,
Each syllable shrivels, parched joy confined,
In the vast, arid landscape of a wandering mind.

Once vibrant and lush, like a river in flow,
Words dance on the tongue, like soft flakes of snow.
But sunbeams of doubt scorch the parchment of dreams,
Leaving fragments like shadows, dissolving at seams.

A drought of expression, as thirst takes its toll,
In the barren expanse, words lose their control.
Cracked sentences linger where starlight should gleam,
A wistful reminder of what once was a dream.

Yet, amidst this harsh desert, a spark flickers bright,
A single drop of hope refracts through the night.
For the heart knows the rhythm, the pulse of the soul,
And even in silence, the essence is whole.

With patience, we gather the dew of intent,
Reviving each letter, each phrase we lament.
From the depths of this thirst, like a wellspring, we rise,
Quenching the dryness with verses that fly.

So let words be the rain that nourishes ground,
In the garden of thought, where lost meanings are found.
For in each articulation, a miracle grows,
In the beauty of language, our story still flows.

---

As you can see, anyone not in the know would be impressed by any writer who could write a poem like this. Let us, as poets, decline such a process and feed our own thoughts with... our own thoughts.

Author's Note

Sorry for all the ~ marks in between lines. The site put it all into one big paragraph and I had to insert them.

Reviews

[Pryde Foltz]

Yeah ... AI has the craft but lacks the voice and imperfections that make a poem REAL. In fact, the AI version is a little painful to read for its triteness. I think human poets may have the advantage over AI where other professions and creators will not. Who would have thought it ... Poets will outlast engineers and mechanics. Phew ... we are safe:)

Your poem is electric and the enjambment give it energy. it is fun to read and pleasing to look at. HAL just can't match it and will not leave the Farah Fawcetts of poetry swooning.

[Relic]

lol Thank you for the comment, Pryde. I concur with all you've said. :)

[Cassie]

I agree with you 100 percent

[Relic]

Thank you Cassie. Good to see you again. :)

[John the Baptist]

An impressive display, indeed, R. But the bottom line is that in the end, AI can be unplugged. You can't.

[Relic]

I'd say you're right, John. Thanks for the comment.

[Vol]

It is my great good fortune to have no idea how AI works... In this case I'll take the bliss of ignorance... it tastes so much better than the watery drops of sterile words. Like the difference between Cajun food and Yankee bland, what? Ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese? Ewww!
Vol

[Relic]

ha I know what you mean, Vol. Thanks for the comment.

[andrew mitchell]

Wow that’s incredible. Is there anything sacred anymore? Scary!

[Relic]

Yes, it is scary, andrew. Thanks for the comment.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

And a further footnote. I can tell when reviews use AI pretty easily and it breaks my heart. I think we all appreciate the thought and feelings of the human responses, no matter what they are.
But when AI is used, we can see immediately that very little interpretation by the human reviewing is involved in the process. They want their responses to look good, but that is not the case. Again, we have that distant third person that is not even connected to the person using the AI generated response.
Guess I had a bit more to say.
j. part two.

[Relic]

I noticed comments using AI myself on another site. I first thought the guy was very intelligent, but I knew something wasn't right, I just couldn't tell what it was.

That's around the time someone spotted it and called it out. Now I'm more wise to it and have an idea what to look for.

Thanks for your comments, J. They're always appreciated.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I took one of my titles and used AI....what an ugly poem it made...so stiff and unfeeling...

[Relic]

A.I. is only as good as the person who programs it. I don't he thought much about tone, syntax, the sound of words, metaphor, simile....all the things you need to be a good poet. (all the things I'm learning about). It's programmed for rhyme and basic syllable count maybe, I don't know. It's got a long way to go. The human element can't be discounted.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I could not accept AI driven poems because as Marie expressed, they are pretty easy to spot. The heart is missing, the soul is missing. The humanness devoid. When my students write using it, it is so easy to spot. Extreme third person, the vocabulary etc. No soul.
I want to read poetry that is written from the gut of the poet. Even if it is bad poetry, at least it comes from the heart of the poet, not some artificial heart.
'Nuff said.
j.

[Relic]

And well said to. Thank you, J.

[Robert Trakofler]

i do not use it to write but i do use it to analyze that is what it is really good for it is what it is designed for it is a terrible author but it can see things that we cant always see the true nature of its writing abilities is dry and heartless and it cannot create truly create it can only respond to prompts if you really read that poem you will not hear the whispers of a soul or the souls that came before it unlike your poem that bleeds from the hand that placed the pen to the page

[Relic]

I appreciate your comment, Robert. Thank you.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I appreciate what brother Bunny said here about the "poem that bleeds from the hand that placed the pen to the page."
thank you for that, brother.

[Tumi]

The AI really did refine your poem into a wonderful piece,
but people familiar with AI writing will know quickly it was refined by AI
it maintains 1 rhyme scheme, AABB, it's always in quatrains, and repeat the same words again.
i have tried it, and find it dangerous for a growing writer, because it kill the writer in you

[Relic]

Yes, I agree. Thanks for the comment, tumi.

[Samuel Dickens]

Wow, that's some smart, creative robot! Scary, scary, to see such work. I wonder what it would do with one of my unfinished stories? Truly, we have entered into a 1950's sct-fi movie where robots take over mankind. I see the potential for great good, but also great evil.

[Relic]

I agree, Sam. Thank you for the comment.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

How can we get out of the movie, Sam?
Or is it too late because the credits are already rolling?
j.

[Samuel Dickens]

Someone would have to un-invent electricity, I think.