This is such a good read. Have been thinking that it's the poets who are teaching language-learning AI to question itself (the poets and the people who write in that odd science-speak found in research papers; the poets and the science speakers and the second language learners; the poets and the science speakers and the second language learners and the speakers of native tongues cut off from advertising-infected interaction; the poets and). Writing poetry feels like sitting in wait. It feels like being readied to offer an unexpected pathway through a subject. To reach out with language and feel the brambles. The way you slide down a wet bank when too close to the creek. The wet boot. And its seems as though the unexpected characterizes the moments humans break through to solve the biggest problems. AI itself can be seen as a huge problem. At the moment, anyway. It eats energy like crazy. It's hackable. It's way too easily weaponized. Now that some forms have taken on language, the weaponization is even clearer to those of us who haven't thought much about it until now. I don't know. But maybe we can take heart in the fact that humans have had language for a very long time and here we are still. Despite all the wars. All the struggle. I don't know. But this is such a good read. Thank you.
Great post Mark. I definitely struggle with the poetic abilities algorithm of AI. Who will be the last poet?
Do these machines feel?
Do they bleed with tears and dance to joy? Can they be knocked on their ass in awe?
Algorithms can only do what they are trained to do. Algorithms can only imitate human emotion. Imitation. They certainly try to remake what’s already been done from the information that they have been provided. Is that creativity? Creativity is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. Do computers truly do that? Wisdom may just be that journey from imitation to creation. Is that human only?
Have computers replaced our intuition?
Artificial intelligence is a master at imitation. Artificial intelligence is an intellectual genius. Does artificial intelligence possess intuition? Intuition is foundational to creativity and ignites the spark of innovation. It has been said that intuition is the voice of soul. Intuition guides the hand of an artist while she makes each stroke of her paintbrush. Not an algorithm. Transcendence may even be the child of creativity.
Is there a ghost in the machine?
Spirituality is being aware of being. It is a very imperfect journey. We as humans are not perfect. We are authentically imperfect. AI! Authentic imperfection. There is no algorithm for that. No imitation possible. A spiritual journey is more about transformation than information. Our imperfections correlate with that journey. It resides in us as authenticity. There is a rawness of soul that no algorithm can ever create.
Daugherty's book has an amazing group of poets responding to Swift... inspiring to see this kind of collaboration.
Sooo inspiring!
This is such a good read. Have been thinking that it's the poets who are teaching language-learning AI to question itself (the poets and the people who write in that odd science-speak found in research papers; the poets and the science speakers and the second language learners; the poets and the science speakers and the second language learners and the speakers of native tongues cut off from advertising-infected interaction; the poets and). Writing poetry feels like sitting in wait. It feels like being readied to offer an unexpected pathway through a subject. To reach out with language and feel the brambles. The way you slide down a wet bank when too close to the creek. The wet boot. And its seems as though the unexpected characterizes the moments humans break through to solve the biggest problems. AI itself can be seen as a huge problem. At the moment, anyway. It eats energy like crazy. It's hackable. It's way too easily weaponized. Now that some forms have taken on language, the weaponization is even clearer to those of us who haven't thought much about it until now. I don't know. But maybe we can take heart in the fact that humans have had language for a very long time and here we are still. Despite all the wars. All the struggle. I don't know. But this is such a good read. Thank you.
So glad you appreciated this piece, Jessica! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflections.
Great post Mark. I definitely struggle with the poetic abilities algorithm of AI. Who will be the last poet?
Do these machines feel?
Do they bleed with tears and dance to joy? Can they be knocked on their ass in awe?
Algorithms can only do what they are trained to do. Algorithms can only imitate human emotion. Imitation. They certainly try to remake what’s already been done from the information that they have been provided. Is that creativity? Creativity is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. Do computers truly do that? Wisdom may just be that journey from imitation to creation. Is that human only?
Have computers replaced our intuition?
Artificial intelligence is a master at imitation. Artificial intelligence is an intellectual genius. Does artificial intelligence possess intuition? Intuition is foundational to creativity and ignites the spark of innovation. It has been said that intuition is the voice of soul. Intuition guides the hand of an artist while she makes each stroke of her paintbrush. Not an algorithm. Transcendence may even be the child of creativity.
Is there a ghost in the machine?
Spirituality is being aware of being. It is a very imperfect journey. We as humans are not perfect. We are authentically imperfect. AI! Authentic imperfection. There is no algorithm for that. No imitation possible. A spiritual journey is more about transformation than information. Our imperfections correlate with that journey. It resides in us as authenticity. There is a rawness of soul that no algorithm can ever create.
To be human is to ask the unanswerable questions.
Our spiritual journey persists in asking them.
Will poetry survive?
We may not be the ones to answer.