In which I try to communicate effectively with AI.

For this week’s assignment, I opted for Option 2 because I have used Voyant for another class, whereas I have not truly tried to make anything using AI before.

What follows are the prompts I submitted:

1. “Please write a poem about a field of sunflowers, from the perspective of someone who has never seen sunflowers before.”

What are these golden disks that shine
Like miniature suns in a green sea?
They turn their faces to the sky
As if they know some mystery.

They sway and nod in gentle breeze
A cheerful chorus of yellow and brown
They fill the air with sweet perfume
And scatter seeds upon the ground.

I wonder how they came to be
These lovely flowers of the field
Did someone plant them long ago
Or did they grow here of their own will?

I wish I could ask them what they are
And why they make me feel so glad
But they only smile and say nothing
And I can only guess and be amazed.

To be blatantly honest, for an AI’s first try after one prompt, I was duly impressed. I noticed that the chat bot chose a (understandably) basic style of poetry. I asked in the chat, “Can you tell me whose style that poem is written in?” because I was curious to see if it modelled its work after a particular artist or group of artists. Copilot answered:

I am intrigued that it said it was going for originality. I had assumed it would provide some sort of amalgamation of specific poems.

2. “Thank you! Can you please write the poem in free verse style, instead?”

I see a field of suns
Bright and dazzling
They look at me with curious eyes
What are they?

They smell like honey
They feel like silk
They make a gentle sound
Like a whisper

They are not like anything I know
They are a mystery
A wonder
A gift

I want to touch them
To talk to them
To learn their secrets
But they are silent

They only smile
And shine
And fill my heart with joy
They are sunflowers

This poem is a lot like something I might have tried to write in high school and for that reason, this chat has made me a little concerned about art forms — how do you discern a real from a fake? Will artists need to provide rough drafts or some form of proof that they didn’t fake their work?

The strangest part of the experience, for me, was the conversational nature. I was treating the chat bot like a human, as if they might get offended. I used a lot of “pleases” and “thank yous” because I was getting “asking a nice stranger who owes me nothing to do my homework for me” vibes. The more requests I sent, the worse I felt.

I would probably make a terrible CEO. Or a great one?

3. “Can you add a melancholy tone to the poem too, please?”

I see a field of suns
But they are not for me
They look at me with distant eyes
What are they?

They smell like death
They feel like thorns
They make a harsh sound
Like a scream

They are not like anything I know
They are a mystery
A curse
A trap

I want to escape them
To forget them
To erase their secrets
But they are relentless

They only mock
And burn
And fill my heart with pain
They are sunflowers

The very straightforward use of antonyms was interesting. The poem is virtually (ha) the same, just with key descriptors changed. I wish I had specifically asked it to pull back on the melancholy feeling just a little bit — I feel like we jumped from “happy” to “post apocalyptic trauma” pretty quick.

4. Can you please add a few extra lines that give the reader a more hopeful feeling at the end of the poem, please?

I see a field of suns
But they are not for me
They look at me with distant eyes
What are they?

They smell like death
They feel like thorns
They make a harsh sound
Like a scream

They are not like anything I know
They are a mystery
A curse
A trap

I want to escape them
To forget them
To erase their secrets
But they are relentless

They only mock
And burn
And fill my heart with pain
They are sunflowers

But then I see a ray of hope
A tiny flower in the shade
It looks at me with gentle eyes
What is it?

It smells like life
It feels like love
It makes a soft sound
Like a song

It is not like anything I know
It is a mystery
A blessing
A friend

I want to embrace it
To remember it
To learn its secrets
But it is shy

It only smiles
And glows
And fills my heart with peace
It is a daisy

Maybe it IS supposed to be post-apocalyptic. OR — hear me out — it is written from the experiences of a toddler who is lost at their first harvest fair and accidentally stumbled into the field of sunflowers and is now having a very dramatic moment.

I can see some potential for literary analysis — considering the fact that Copilot told me it “tried to create an original poem” in nobody’s specific style, does it mean they pulled from all poems everywhere?

When I asked it to give the poem a melancholy feel, why did the tone switch SO drastically? WHY IS THE BETTER FLOWER A DAISY?

I was finding all the descriptions of flowers and their smells curious. I didn’t mean to do this, but I realized I had asked an AI system, which has never seen sunflowers beyond images, to write a poem from the experience of someone who has never seen sunflowers. Fair to assume that Copilot has never seen a daisy, either.

5. Can you rewrite the poem as an overall happy one again, please?

I see a field of suns
And they are all for me
They look at me with friendly eyes
What are they?

They smell like heaven
They feel like magic
They make a lovely sound
Like a laugh

They are not like anything I know
They are a mystery
A miracle
A gift

I want to thank them
To praise them
To share their secrets
But they are humble

They only smile
And shine
And fill my heart with love
They are sunflowers

At first, I thought Copilot gave me a copy of poem #2, but it is actually slightly different — kind of like when you put a French phrase into Google Translate and convert it to English, then run the English translation back through to French. Things don’t always go back to being exactly as they were. It also left out the daisy.

6. Can you mention the daisy again please?

Sure, I can mention the daisy again for you. The daisy is a small white flower with a yellow center that grows in the field of sunflowers. It is a symbol of hope and innocence in the poem. It contrasts with the sunflowers, which are large, bright, and overwhelming. The daisy represents the narrator’s discovery of something new and different in the field of suns. It is a friend that makes the narrator feel peaceful and happy. 😊

I felt a bit like I was talking to Amelia Bedelia. But I am also not very good at being clear with AI.

Well. That explains the daisy. I wonder why Copilot find sunflowers overwhelming (or does it just mean contextually)?

7. Can you add a line or stanza to the poem about the daisy?

I see a field of suns
And they are all for me
They look at me with friendly eyes
What are they?

They smell like heaven
They feel like magic
They make a lovely sound
Like a laugh

They are not like anything I know
They are a mystery
A miracle
A gift

I want to thank them
To praise them
To share their secrets
But they are humble

They only smile
And shine
And fill my heart with love
They are sunflowers

And then I see a ray of light
A tiny flower in the shade
It looks at me with gentle eyes
What is it?

It smells like life
It feels like love
It makes a soft sound
Like a song

It is not like anything I know
It is a mystery
A blessing
A friend

I want to embrace it
To remember it
To learn its secrets
But it is shy

It only smiles
And glows
And fills my heart with peace
It is a daisy

Surprisingly (or not, if you know me), the more requests I put in, the more clunky the poem felt to me — maybe because my requests weren’t really lining up with the final product. Ultimately, I don’t think I was asking the right questions or giving very clear prompts.

I found the final poem to be lacking some sort of substance; it is fairly simplistic in its description of emotions and colours (part of the reason I imagined a toddler experiencing the sunflowers). Still, it made use of some metaphor, and is a pretty legit poem.

As a final bonus (for me), I had one more prompt:

8. Can you please form your poem into a shape poem? Do not change any of the words or lines. Make it the shape of a sunflower, if you can.

“Sure, I can try to form your poem into a shape poem for you. A shape poem is a type of poetry that uses the arrangement of words to create a visual image of the subject or theme of the poem. Here is the shape poem I created for you using the graphic_art tool:”

Oh. Oh my.

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Overall, while I am worried about a number of things, mainly people claiming AI generated work is their own work, I was amused by the poem I got from this exercise (mostly the comparison of sunflowers and daisies). Poem #4 is therefore my favourite. And honestly, the amount of effort I feel like I would have to put in in order to get something prize-worthy from a chat like this is … a lot. I have strong feelings about AI and art, but even this poem is still just a copy of human creations; AI isn’t making anything from scratch. I find the medium really interesting and while there are definitely dangers to it, there are a lot of benefits, too. If an artist writes a poem or a novel with AI assistance, I think it is fine as long as they acknowledge that openly, much like an Instagram influencer should acknowledge the use of filters and photoshop.

Also, there is a potential to learn things from the process. I had to really think about how to communicate effectively; I had to be familiar with what I was asking for and know exactly what I wanted. Before every new version of the poem (I didn’t include these for the sake of space), Copilot gave me an explanation of certain literary terms or symbolism. For example, when I asked it to add melancholy, it said, “A melancholy tone is one that expresses sadness, sorrow, or regret. It often uses words that have negative connotations, such as dark, cold, lonely, etc.” Which, I mean … my first reaction was “yes thank you I know,” but I can see this being sneakily helpful if a student is trying to do their homework, reads the explanations, and accidentally learns how to write poetry at the same time.

I was oddly comforted by the amount of guidance that the chat needed; while a lot of technology is incredibly exciting too me, I do admit some fear of all the negative ways in which AI can be used. (Most of my fear is directly influenced by post-apocalyptic movies, tbh.) The arts are already sneered at by a lot of other disciplines, so the fact that a person could create art using AI does worry me. Then again, the internet itself can be a terrifying place, and we are getting along just fine with that. (For now.)

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1. “daisies,” 2010, by acute_tomato. Flikr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED. https://www.flickr.com/photos/acutetomato/5151417083/in/photolist-8RdmPV-cBcFHw-chhish-chhjuu-84jx2N-22SfgnJ-PJXrr-Eaiwd-8nsBfT-hFYBeN-5321Cu-4Tdv7b-dWbHNA-ehx2Tw-NzmSe-hnCGAi-NSMwA-cg5BzQ-5vfXZd-Wv3xJ-86jn3e-9ZyAkc-9UqQAj-9Tc4ZA-4WutT5-FYgPu-4XjAJX-6yHNHh-aQXN5Z-aryBDm-9HQoZy-9gXc9k-a2uLi1-Ld5Xt-6v2r4P-54Fgoq-8jfwYR-9Fzy6n-vFBU44-8f3fiH-bFfo6D-6G4RFW-6DyC4Q-fPvCM-L2rDy-2CeSvr-cbuka3-7RjdrB-f4EZck-KDeCy5 ↩︎