Many of you (perhaps all) will have heard or read about Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/.

Having watched a couple of videos on Youtube, I was curious to see how Chat GPT would respond to my poetry. I therefore inputted the text of my poem “Midnight” into the search engine.

You can see below the results of my experiment. First, I simply entered the text of the poem and Chat GPT provided it’s interpretation of  it’s meaning. Second, I re-entered my poem. However, in the second instance I asked Chat GPT to continue the poem which it duly did.

I must confess to being impressed with Chat GPT’s interpretation of “Midnight”. Where I to explain my own poem I would have done so in very similar terms to those generated by the AI. However, I was not overly impressed with how Chat GPT continued my poem. The continuation is, in my view mediocre at best. The poem (as I wrote it) is dark with no glimmer of light, however Chat GPT adds such a glimmer.

Do I think that Chat GPT or other similar products are going to replace human poets?. No. Chat GPT draws from a huge database (although it is not connected to the internet). It has access to a vast amount of literature (including) poetry from which it draws. It is not, however capable (so far as I can ascertain) of producing anything truly original. We humans have emotions which play a significant role in the composition of literature (including poetry). Chat GPT and similar products are incapable of feeling emotions. They are software (admittedly very clever software), but software nonetheless.

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My Poem:

Midnight, black as pitch. No scheming demon, ghost, nor witch. Only the darkness, which in the human heart resides, manifests itself in cruelty and pride.

Chat GPT’s Interpretation of the Poem:

This verse paints a picture of midnight as a dark and ominous time, with the absence of supernatural entities suggesting that it is human nature itself that is the source of evil. The mention of cruelty and pride implies that these negative traits are inherent in people, and that they manifest themselves in the darkness of the night. This could be interpreted as a commentary on the darker aspects of human nature, and how they reveal themselves when the constraints of society are lifted.

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continue this poem. Midnight, black as pitch. No scheming demon, ghost, nor witch. Only the darkness, which in the human heart resides, manifests itself in cruelty and pride. (End of my poem).

(Start of Chat GPT’s continuation of the poem). Yet in the shadows of this midnight hour, Lies a glimmer of hope, a guiding power. A light that shines, dispelling all fear, Bringing comfort, banishing the tear.

For in the heart of every man and woman, Lies a spark of love, a gentle flame, burning. A force that fights against the night, Bringing peace and hope, making everything right.

So though midnight may seem bleak and grim, Let us not forget, it’s just a passing phase. For with the dawn comes a brand new day, And a chance to make a brighter way.

continue this poem. Midnight, black as pitch. No scheming demon, ghost, nor witch. Only the darkness, which in the human heart resides, manifests itself in cruelty and pride.

Yet in the shadows of this midnight hour, Lies a glimmer of hope, a guiding power. A light that shines, dispelling all fear, Bringing comfort, banishing the tear.

For in the heart of every man and woman, Lies a spark of love, a gentle flame, burning. A force that fights against the night, Bringing peace and hope, making everything right.

So though midnight may seem bleak and grim, Let us not forget, it’s just a passing phase. For with the dawn comes a brand new day, And a chance to make a brighter way.