We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

25.5.23

Can Artificial Beat the Real Thing?

I  contemplate, on the one hand, the rise of Artificial Intelligence in a form which can mimic human writings and ideas, and, on the other, the just-announced death of the music legend Tina Turner. Our written words may be stolen, rearranged, mimicked, but at least the performing arts seem safe for now. How could anything artificial reproduce Tina in action? 

Er ... famous last words? I don’t know, and perhaps can’t even imagine, what the future may produce. 


Well, Tina is dead now and will never know. She gave us her best, she rocked our world, she gained universal respect. She broke free of subjection and abuse, to find a long, happy and private love; a blazing, brilliant career; a new home in a peaceful country.

May we all be inspired to find ourselves and live our truth!


when the Great Mother

gathers me in finally

may I be replete






Written for Friday Writings #78: Artificial Intelligence at Poets and Storytellers United.


22 comments:

  1. I keep talking to chatgpt/ bing chat about poetry, it does feel we are safe for now. The poetry they generate is quite ordinary, which even they admit. But we are being served only the low-end of AI development which is probably way ahead but not safe enough yet for public use. So who knows which way this will swing. Meanwhile, we just do what we do...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do think 'just doing what we do' is key. As I just realised when commenting on Jim's post, most poets won't want to keep robbing themselves of the fun of creation for very long.

      Delete
  2. I'm with you, Rosemary, AI is here and I don't like it. Make a list of words you want, feed them to the monster and it streams them back to you. Put a few personal thoughts here and there and call it your Poem. I like to visit with my soul and being, mold and carve, like it's a sculpture, paint it like the artist, and you've given birth to your baby. All yours, from your inners. What does the AI have, it's a rock on the road, hard and cold, it breathes not, not a hint of the feelings of any creator.
    ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, my friend, in this comment you have certainly waxed very eloquent on the subject! I would defy a soulless robot to come up with so much poetry and passion as you have done in these words.

      Delete
  3. The last three lines are beautiful. Humans have a habit of creating Frankensteins and then find some other measure to correct their follies. History has repeated itself in many ways. The latest being Corona. So there will always be an antidote for every catastrophe. And who knows whether by this time our online work has not been plagiarized, published and famous in somebody else's name. So don't worry be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wonder. Perhaps Tina will be reproduced and we will project our feelings onto the fake images of her thereby giving her some semblance of a soul.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fascinating post .... I have experimented with ChatGPT and find the results for lack of a better word ... contrived. I have not fed it a prompt with anything resembling satisfactory. Though, in retrospect, maybe it's me??!!?? Not being clever enough in my quest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, does that mean it fosters the ultimate in self-blame?

      Delete
  6. If someone plagiarize my poetry (or artwork), I would not be flattered, but mad. Even AI.
    Maybe we won't live that long to find out if AI has taken over the human race.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you about not being flattered but mad.
      We may indeed be lucky enough not to live to see all the catastrophes which seem to be unfolding on the planet. We'll have to go some time; perhaps we who are already (ahem!) mature will time it right. On the other hand, how very frustrating , whenever we go, not to know what happens next!

      Delete
    2. 😁
      At the rate technology is going, what is science fiction may be reality quite soon.

      Delete
    3. Ha, this has already happened with some early science fiction.

      Delete
  7. Rest in Power, Tina!! Very thought provoking post on AI.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A.I. lacks human spirit and intuition. It cannot create anything new, per se, because it is only able to draw upon what has already been said, written, etc. Moreover, A.I. leaves G-d out of the equation, because there is no opportunity for G-d's influence on A.I. in an active way, aside of scripture. G-d is only able to influence and inspire humans, even through our intuition, as well as our actual lives. Musicians, artists, and poets, etc. are capable of a dynamic performance, artwork or poems. A.I. is static. I could go on - this is food for thought.

    ReplyDelete

DON'T PANIC IF YOUR COMMENTS DON'T POST IMMEDIATELY. They are awaiting moderation. Please allow for possible time difference; I am in Australia. ALSO, IF YOU ARE FORCED TO COMMENT ANONYMOUSLY – do add your name at the end, so I know it's you!