If Robots Wrote Poetry
I.
They would sell you a bridge
from a copy machine altar
where God is an avatar
and the world is flat
They would bargain with the devil
Sell you a wind-up nightingale
A parlor trick gimmick
of soulless semantics
Until you no longer knew the difference
between Muzak and Mozart
between sentient creation
and automated content
II.
Let the billionaires share
what never was theirs
Let robots cure cancer
and climate change
But don’t let them claim
or plagiarize the artists
Don’t let poets become
the jukebox nostalgics
__________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United / dVerse Poets Pub
May 11th, 2023 4:20 pm
I love this, and indeed, there are some things we should leave be.
May 11th, 2023 5:17 pm
I really love this Colleen! And a big Amen for not losing who we are to AI.
May 11th, 2023 6:43 pm
I may let my robot do ALL the work from here on in…NOT!
May 11th, 2023 7:54 pm
AMEN
May 11th, 2023 8:19 pm
Jukebox nostalgics … well described of so many things that have come and almost gone. AI is definitely something to monitor. In art or prose I suppose it can perform as somewhat of a prompt, taking from everything humanity has already inputted into its big “mechanical” brain. But it has no heart and its nuance is doubtful. So hopefully, there will always be a role for us organics. :))
May 11th, 2023 9:28 pm
In the future it may be hard to spot the difference between the work by a human vs a robot. But for now, the robot’s work is just automated content.
May 12th, 2023 12:42 am
I think the boundaries in digital art and music are already blurring… poetry may take a little more time. But now that the genie is out… it’s not going to stop…sigh!
May 12th, 2023 1:28 am
Wonderful! And dovetails with some of my thinking, which I’ll be including in my next P&SU hosting. I might even quote you, this is so much on topic.
May 12th, 2023 3:21 am
We had a prompt at dVerse in which we tried writing poems using AI, and the overall consensus was that it wasn’t much good. Your poem has confirmed that, Colleen, with the ‘parlor trick gimmick / of soulless semantics’ and the thought that we would no longer know ‘the difference between Muzak and Mozart’. Yes! ‘Let robots cure cancer / and climate change’ but ‘Don’t let poets become / the jukebox nostalgics’.
May 12th, 2023 11:11 am
This is super!! Two things:
1. Look up here’s “Muzak”; and
2. On the line, “…the devil Sell you a wind-up nightingale”, compare his toy nightingale with my battery operated toy elephant and toy dummy singing pair, blog visitors quite often.
3. There could be other items but this is ’nuff for now.
..
May 12th, 2023 4:40 pm
So mote it be!
Some things can be put in the hands of the machine. But others–often the most important ones–must be handled with soul.
May 12th, 2023 6:18 pm
Beautifully penned poem, Colleen. ChatGPT is the enemy.
May 14th, 2023 1:06 am
There are so many AI generated content out there, that it’s hard to tell what is true or false. AI can write a poem, I have asked ChatGPT to do that, but it still seems to lack something, it’s ability to write ” wow” imagery. Perhaps one day, when it read enough of the great masters.
May 14th, 2023 6:00 am
I am with you your thoughts
May 15th, 2023 5:46 pm
Every line is a knockout – I enjoyed this
May 16th, 2023 2:34 am
agreed AI is scary i enjoyed your poem.
March 25th, 2026 9:47 am
Right on point!!
I agree with all these comments – I’m 3 years late !