composing poetry | K Morris

As those of you who follow my blog will know, I have been experimenting with Google Bard. This morning I asked Bard whether AI poetry will replace human generated poetry and received a response which can be accessed here, https://g.co/bard/share/074f2caef001

The final few sentences of the AI generated essay sum up Bard’s response:

“Ultimately, the future of poetry will likely be a collaboration between humans and machines. Human poets will continue to bring their unique creativity and emotional insight to the craft, while AI will provide new tools and techniques to help them express their ideas. Together, humans and AI can create poetry that is even more beautiful and meaningful than anything that has been created before.”

Whilst I am sure that many humans will use AI tools with increasing frequency in their writing (including poetry), I am not convinced that this will lead to the composition of poetry even more beautiful than that hitherto created. As the AI response acknowledges, AI lacks human experience. Consequently, unless AI is able to fully comprehend human experience in the same manner as we humans do, it will never be able to surpass Shakespeare, Tennyson or any other of the poetic greats.

Furthermore, the appreciation of any art form is to some extent a matter of subjective judgement. To take a concrete example, I believe that Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is a wonderfully powerful poem, whilst a dear friend of mine (who is also a lover of poetry), is left cold by Thomas’s work. There will therefore no doubt be readers who will praise AI generated poetry and poems created in collaboration with AI tools, but others will be left cold by such creations.

The creation of mass produced pottery has not killed the craftsman who produces beautiful pots using his potter’s wheel. Nor, in my view will AI poetry destroy the poet who continues to write from the heart rather than utilising tools such as Google Bard or Open AI’s Chat GPT.

As always I would welcome your comments.

I do enjoy the company of friends and, on average meet up for drinks and/or a meal, once or twice a week. I am especially fond of sitting near an open log fire, whilst enjoying a couple of pints with close friends in a traditional pub. I do, however also have the reputation of being fond of my own company which is, I think a trait shared by most (I suspect all) writers.

I well remember, on my 18th birthday, going to bed whilst the party was still in full swing. It was, after all my party and the person who’s party it is does, surely have the right to retire to bed when he chooses!

The need for my own space has remained with me, and one of the ways in which it manifests itself is in my need to be left alone when writing.

My need for solitude whilst writing is well provided for as I live alone, so can sit in my spare room (which I glorify with the title of study) and write undisturbed, other than by the occasional entrance of my guide dog who, on occasions nudges me with his cold wet nose, or presents me with his blanket demanding attention!

When writing, I usually ignore the ringing of my landline and turn my mobile off. I do answer the door in case of it being a delivery. But other than that I am, whilst writing fairly antisocial.

To be interrupted while composing a poem is very irritating. It breaks my flow and its often difficult (sometimes impossible) to return to the poem as the moment of inspiration has been lost.

So engrossed in my writing do I become that I have been known, whilst making a cup of coffee but with my mind still on writing, to put the jar of coffee in the fridge or to pour cold water into my cup. As I say, don’t disturb me when writing!

As I said at the beginning of this post, I do enjoy the company of family and friends. However, when family come to stay (or I go to visit them), I find it difficult to write unless I am in a separate room, with the door closed, or they go out of the house. So, when other people are around I tend to wait until I have a room to myself or they go out shopping!

There is, of course a balance to be struck as regards my need for quiet whilst writing, and the common courtesies one must observe when staying with others. I love time spent with family and friends but there will always be a part of me which craves (and needs) what Wordsworth described as “the bliss of solitude”.

Kevin