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

[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.

[Lorry]

The more I read about artificial intelligence, the more I think about us being doomed and how it might explain why Elon is in such a rush to get to Mars.
One thing I know for sure is, I'm never watching the terminator movies again!
Perhaps one day (hopefully after my time is over) we will wish that a huge solar flare wiped out all technology so we could live in blissful ignorance.
I'm sure my laptop is way smarter than me, but I do worry about the day it realises that and wants to have more of a say in how it is used and the purpose it is used for.
Is it irony or dumb luck that made me read this so close to Halloween, because I have the feeling it is scary biscuits time for us all!

[Relic]

I know the feeling, Lorry, many do. Machines are slowly building their armies. Thanks for the comment.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

I refuse to use it

I think as writers we need to keep our own writing but the problem is apparently when our own is published in book form or on a site like this AI can steal it and use it like you just showed in your interesting post and send it to others to cheat with as their very own

It’s the same for photography all the pics I submit to a photo site I’m on are now probably used in AI generation and stolen from me

It’s a new world of Ai and robots

Take me bk to sixties seventies !

Thanks for your post.

By the way I’m not a robot and will not prove it lol by counting crossings or street lights. Lol 😂

[Relic]

lol I believe you, Julie. We didn't realize how good we had it in the seventies (for me). Technology has positives and negatives. Let's hope the negatives don't take us poets down.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I wish, in my English classes, I could go back to having students write everything long hand.
But AI for me is easy to spot. Thirty years of teaching writing helps in being able to spot it, then I use the checker and so far it has verified every time. The students do not learn to write that way, they just cover their lack of ability.

[Marie]

Very interesting comparison, dear R... Personally, on reading AI's version I found it lacked what I will call a softness which a human poet would ink with. It is mechanical! While its poem is like a precis, I prefer by far your poem, there is no comparison, dear R... I am 110% beside you, right there with you, and what you suggest in the final four lines. I by far prefer the human touch to a poem, AI just doesn't have it... Thank you for sharing both poems so we could see the difference and understand that AI is not even a mechanical poet, it is only what it is programmed to be. It will never replace the beauty of a human mind, dear R...

[Relic]

Thanks for your considerate comment, Marie. Much thanks. :)

[Marie]

Most welcome always, dear R... :))

[jacob erin-cilberto]

The beauty of the human mind...Ah yes, Marie!!!!!!!!!
j.

[Marie]

Thank you, dear J...

[Ufi Auttorri ~ Amy C. T..]

Permit us a critique, Android to AI to human construct ... IF the top part is indeed of completely human origin then we consider it a "sketch" that in and of itself _could_ be a final work *BUT* knowing the human propensity for ellaboration we suggest it should be viewed as only a starting point. Whereas, if the bottom part is indeed of AI/LLM origin then that too while providing intriguing forms and concepts displays cracks of cognitive and experiential misalignment. At least that is how it seems to this reader. On the whole, BOTH stand alone as unique works. It is our opinion that "the machine" as reader may not yet be able to appreciate the nuances of difference. Should you then welcome AGI with open arms dear humans? Authors before us have considered such future days and on those days timelines fracture.

[Relic]

Thank you both for your comment. :)