AI & Poetry: Nemeses to Lovers?

Image Credit: Possessed Photography

Written by Fi / F.M Papaz (@fmpapaz)

If you’re a technology-challenged poet like me, whose browser activities don’t elevate past Google Suite, I can probably guess your feelings on the use of Artificial Intelligence in poetry and literature. We have many reasons to fear the murky territory of AI, especially in regards to the ethical concerns around privacy, intellectual property and plagiarism.

But should we be so quick to toss out the tube-grown baby with the bathwater? 

I pushed my discomfort aside and asked the biddable bot itself – Chat GPT.

Fi: Do you think you should be used for writing poems?

ChatGPT: Certainly! I can be a helpful tool for generating ideas, providing inspiration, or even assisting in the drafting process when it comes to writing poems. Whether you're looking for creative prompts, exploring different styles, or seeking assistance with specific elements of your poem, I'm here to help.

However, it's important to note that while I can generate content, the true depth and personal touch in poetry often come from the unique voice and experiences of the poet. So, consider using me as a tool to complement your creative process rather than replace it entirely.

Wow, that’s very intellectually honest of you Chat-bae. 

This was my first time using the tech, so I spent a couple minutes poking around to test its capabilities before I got bored. Hilariously, both Chat-bae and Google’s Bard, could not produce for me a poem without an AABB rhyme scheme, no matter how many times I asked it to rewrite it. But I digress.

Last year, in an effort to diversify my poetry arsenal, I sought out various workshops online and stumbled upon, ‘If, Then: Technology & Poetics.’ They are a working group and monthly workshop series that “bring together writers, coders, and scholars investigating the relationships between humans and machines and the works of art, literature, and visual knowledge they produce together.”

It is their founder Carly Schnitzler’s belief that, “writing itself is a technology—creative computational practices bring this truth into sharp and productively defamiliarizing relief.” She started ‘If, Then’ in the Fall of 2020 “as a way to connect with others invested in creative computation and to create an accessible, friendly, and generative space for folks, of all backgrounds and interests, to explore creative computational methods in their writing and art-making practices.”  Their archives are available for free online and all their workshops are free, virtual and open to everyone.

Via the ‘If, Then’ community, I have discovered many creatives doing mind-boggling things with Tech. In one of the first workshops I attended, Amira Hanifa presented their digital work CreaTures Glossary.

Amira is interested in “language as material,” and the way that our use of words to categorize, has a by-product of the “particularities [being] blurred in the naming.” Her project, which you can find at this website address, desires to provide a space for nonviolent language; pushing back on our human tendency to assign categorization that will inevitably fall short of sufficiently capturing phenomena or beings.

Amira encourages free play and contributions to the definitions of the words provided on the website, a living, digital dictionary that reflects the evolutionary reality of language. My favorite function is the ‘Interview with a Word’ function which you can find by:
> Start by defining a word
> Select one of the terms on the left, E.g. “regeneration”
> Scroll to beneath the second text box.
> Read but also contribute answers to questions asked and answered as if you were that word’s persona.

Another poet and smarty-pants programmer I was introduced to from ‘If, Then’ is Natalie Jane Edson. On her website - https://nataliejaneedson.com/poetry-tool/ - she has some very intuitive, very fun poetry tools that go by the following names: Cut Up Machine, Erasure, Homolinguistic Translator, Marshmallow Experiment 1 and Mirror Poems. I promise you endless awe and the unblocking of any stuck poem if you play around with these tools! Please credit Natalie if you use her free tools.

Natalie and Amira are just two examples of brilliant, creative minds dispelling myths around the compatibility of technology and poetics.

I asked Natalie to provide me further insight into her philosophy around the use of AI in poetry. She said, and I conclude (emphatic, exclamation mark implied) with her response:

“The idea that current AI language models can only make poetry worse reeks of the same cynicism that makes people ask: is it even possible to write anything new? Hasn’t it already all been said before?

The answer is of course not, because we’ve never had a world like this. We’ve never had the same people here. I am a different artist than I was yesterday, and I’m also a different artist than anyone else I have ever met. If you give a room of poets a prompt or a set of words from which to write a poem, it is inconceivable that any two poets would come up with identical works.

So there is always an element of curation in artmaking, which people are ignoring in this conversation about emergent technologies. The things that you pick up as inspiration rely on your personality, your memories, your geography, etc.

When people are working with AI, for example, the generated parts that get shared or pulled into a final work depend on the artist’s perspective and interests. It’s not as if they are not present.  The artist’s hand is in whatever they do, every miniscule choice they make. I believe in the uniqueness of the lens. As long as we have humanity and individuality there will be artistry.

Furthermore, art always expands itself according to the technology that is available. When photography came around, people believed that it would be the death of painting. The average person in 1900 could not possibly have conceived of the work of video artists like Nam June Paik. I don’t think people realize that the first computer generated poems were written in the 1950s, that as long as we have had the ability to code we have been using it to create literature.

I personally think that it would be a shame for us to abandon our curiosity and desire to experiment because of a media frenzy about what we’re calling “AI”, which in reality is a set of technologies that doesn’t even come close to having the capabilities described in science fiction. Existing mediums are not diminished by the creation of new ones.

As for my own work, I see both my digital poems and my poetry tools as part of the legacy of early 20th century surrealist movements. I have a tool called the “Cut-up Machine” that mimics the methods of Burroughs and the Dadaists. I am interested in randomness, sense and nonsense.

And I am doing things that would be impossible to do without the use of code and the internet.”

*Mic Drop*

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Other freebies to check out:

• Cliche-finder: Avoid cliches in your poetry by pasting your draft into this handy-dandy tool, it’ll highlight overused words and phrases.
  “[Political] prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated hen-house.                             -George Orwell, Politics and the English Language”

• Hemingway Editor: Highlights passive voice, complex sentences and adverbs in your writing.

• PoetrySoup: A more communal tool, you can post on PoetrySoup and receive free constructive criticism from other poets, while offering your insights to others too.
  
  Article Contributors:

Natalie Jane Edson is a queer poet and programmer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work focuses on the mind, the body, the mundane, and the practice of being alive. You can find out more about her work at nataliejaneedson.com.

Dr. Carly Schnitzler is the founder and co-director of If, Then and a lecturer in the University Writing Program at Johns Hopkins. Her teaching and research center on digital rhetoric, creative computation, and the public humanities. Drop her a line at cschnit1 [at] jh [dot] edu!

Amira Hanafi is a Poet and Artist. See more of Amira’s work at https://amirahanafi.com

F.M Papaz is a Greek-Australian creative and writer who believes that there is space at the literary table for everyone and is excitedly setting up your cutlery. Her poems have appeared in Mantissa Poetry Review, Literary Revelation’s Poetry Anthology ‘Hidden in Childhood’ and The Victorian Writer. In 2023, she joined Tabula Rasa Review as an Editorial Assistant & in 2024, she became a Marketing Intern at PSNY. Connect @fmpapaz or fmpapaz.com/ings to find her monthly newsletter about living a creative life.

Best Valentine’s Day Gifts for Each Love Language Accompanied by a Rant on Redefining Love

The season of love is on the way!!! While we should show love and gratitude for our loved ones all year long, it sure is sweet to have a day dedicated to it. I know Valentine’s Day can be difficult for those who feel that constant dread of being/dying alone. (Definitely can’t relate…) BUT I’ve found that V-Day can still be sweet and special when you branch out of the idea that romantic love is the most important type of love. You have friends! And pets! And parents or parental figures! Redefining your concept of love will help with feeling less alone, especially on Valentine’s Day. It’s important to give a gift that makes them feel special, heard and understood. I have compiled for you a list of the gifts that I think each love language would appreciate most. And remember, anyone can be a lover!!!

Receiving Gifts:

It may seem obvious to gift jewelry, but here is the thing: you need to specifically gift it in the color that your loved one wears. Massive mistake of gifting jewelry is getting a gold girlie something silver. They will say a very sweet thank you and then only wear it when around you. You’ve gotta respect the aesthetic baby. If jewelry is not your or their thing, us gift receiving lovers love trinkets. Those who feel special by receiving gifts are truly not expecting something expensive. It’s not about the money. Receiving a gift says to us: Even when I’m alone I think of you.

Words of Affirmation:

Shamelessly and in my personal opinion, the perfect gift is to get them one of our personalized typewriter poems! From my side of things, I see your google searches. “How to write a love poem.” “Poem for girlfriend.” “Love poem for girlfriend.” “Valentine’s Day poem example.” My darlings, we are here to help you. We have loads of poets at your service to write something specific to and for your lover(s) that is also incredibly aesthetic and cute. Give it a try!

Acts of Service:

There is no one on this earth who does not have a list of projects that they are so totally going to do some day at some time. I cannot be the only one who has a trunk full of items I have collected over the years because one day I will need it for an art project. Help your lover get started on their project! Go to the store to get the extra things needed. Bring them snacks and water to bite and sip while they work on it. Do the chores that are keeping them from having the time to do said project. For our acts of service lovers, it really is the little things that count.

Quality Time:

If you haven’t made a reservation for dinner yet, you probably will not get one at the place that you want. We all mistakes and that is so fine! If your honey or bestie enjoys quality time and trying new things together, it’s your lucky day to be reading this article. Our NYC Poetry Brothel is on Valentine’s Day this year and I promise you it is an experience that you and they will not forget. For those who do not know, it is an immersive literary cabaret that fuses poetry, activism, vaudeville, burlesque & magic with 1-on-1 poetry readings. Picture this: you walk down the stairs to the venue, as you walk in the door you are greeted by our lovely poetry whores ready to seduce you into exchanging a token to get brought into a private space and have poetry read directly to you. I can truly tell you that is not an experience you will get anywhere else.

Physical Touch:

I have never been good at this one. Take a nap together??? Try to imitate those pictures of the cats that look like little hearts with your bodies! Kiss them on the face! (This includes your friends! There is literally nothing stopping you from giving your friend a little forehead kiss.) Hold hands walking through the park and play along when people mention how cute of a couple you and your friend are. Lie through your teeth about how you just got engaged but the ring is at the shop for sizing. Run your fingers through their hair. Intimacy is not just for romantic lovers!!!

The bottom line is that true love comes from understanding them fully. Try this year to show everyone in your life that you love that you love them. We all need a little treat to get us through the day. Cheers! <3

Poet Math

You’ve heard of girl math. You’ve heard of boy math. But have you heard of… poet math?

Poet math is the ways in which we use mental gymnastics and acrobatics to rationalize our silly little habits and desire to write and read anytime, anywhere. It justifies, rationalizes, and whispers into our ear don’t worry, you’ve earned it. Follow along to see if our minds think alike. Cheers!

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• Poet math is believing that if I bought a book for someone else, I didn’t spend any money…

• Poet math is believing that a new notebook is an opportunity to write more, making it an investment in your future. And if it’s pretty to look at, it is an investment in your mental health. Economics!

• Poet math tells us it doesn’t count if you’re late if you were writing a poem in your notes app on the way there.

• Poet math justifies that $25 submission fees don’t count if you get an encouraging rejection letter.

• Poet math is wholeheartedly concluding that if you write best at cafés, $10 lattes are a career-based investment.

• Poet math is only writing Haikus to save money on ink.

• Poet math is thinking that a poem is an appropriate gift for any occasion. The fact that it doesn’t cost anything is merely a coincidence!

• Poet math is romanticizing your dead end job as an inspirational struggle that connects you to your favorite authors.

• Poet math causes us to make extraordinary efforts such as living WELL beyond our means, to cure or prevent writers block.

Relate to us or have your own? Let us know on Insta! We always love to hear from you. 💖

2023 Holiday Poetry Horoscopes

It’s holiday season and we’re seeing so many beautiful things in store for you, poetry besties! We’ve been sharing poetry horoscopes with our PSNY Members and this month we’re spreading the cheer for poetry-lovers everywhere!

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Aries

Your strive to be the best takes you places. Maybe not always the best places, but places nonetheless! December is the season of joy and celebration and fights at the dinner table… Remember to choose your battles wisely this year. You deserve a happy holiday season just as much as the next fiery sign! If you’re looking for a reprieve, come join us for a glass of wine and a night of learning about poet and cultural critic Alejandra Pizarnik. (Check out our holiday market for discounts!) We think it will be right up your alley.

Gemini

For the genuine Gemini December is bound to be, while gloomy and grey, a time of practicing gratitude, giving and getting! (Alright, done with the alliteration.) Picking the perfect present can be near painful due to your indecision. And while practicality may not be your strong suit, don’t panic. We invite you to give the gift of poetry this season. (Alright, I lied. Now I’m done.) Happy holidays to you and we hope to see you at one of our happenings! (OKAY, I’m done.)

Leo

Hello lovely Leos! The holiday season was MADE for you all. Maybe not as great as Leo season, (Birthdays are a holiday.) it’s time to lean into your generous and warm-hearted nature to celebrate others. (Definitely not because giving means getting…) It’s okay to splurge on yourself as well! We’d love for you to check out our holiday market to find the perfect personalized present for your loved ones, and yourself. Cheers!

Libra

Hello fellow Libras! We hope you’ve had a year of love and harmony. You deserve it! It’s the season of sharing and we’d love to celebrate such a season with you. Picking the perfect present is maybe our worst nightmare? (Fun fact for you: PSNY is chock full of Libras! So we really get it.) If you want something personalized for each of your lovers, check out our holiday market. We think you’d especially love our commissioned poems. Our poets will write your love language so you don’t have to.

Sagittarius

Holiday season? I think you mean Sagittarius season… It’s your time to shine and be grateful you were born early enough to not have your birthday on Christmas. Can you imagine? No thank you! It is the time to splurge on yourself a little. Looking for an idealistic adventure to look forward to as we bare this winter? We have a feeling Poetry Camp night spark your interest. Disappearing into the woods surrounded by creatives? Yes please!

Aquarius

Happy holidays to our favorite humanitarian! As the year comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on the last 12 months. Emphasis on reflect. (Not the same thing as overthink!) As the most outspoken zodiac of the signs, it is a great time of the year for you to express gratitude to your loved ones and get them (and yourself!) something as unique as you are! Our holiday market has plenty of options for you — from wine to workshops, we know you’ll find something that catches your eye. Feel free to think on it, we’ll be here until the end of the year.

Taurus

We salute you, Taurus, for the devotion and stability you bring into the world. It could use more Tauruses! (Taurusi?) December is the best month to spread love and admire beauty as the city lights up and people cheer. If you want to delve into the kindness that runs deep in your veins and find a personalized gift to your loved ones (or yourself!), check out our holiday market to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

Cancer

While it may not technically be your season, what’s more cancer-esque than a season of cozy. candle-lit homes and families sitting around the fire? This month, try and explore celebrating the season out in the world! But if that’s too much for your gentle heart, we welcome you to create community with us virtually from the comfort of your bed. Confessional poetry? What’s more Cancer than that. (And Taylor’s moon is in Cancer too… just saying.)

Virgo

Welcome to December Virgos! You’ve worked hard this year (as per usual) and it’s time to be a little selfish and give yourself the grace to take a break as the year comes to an end. Sit by the fire! Read a book from the TBR list! Buy new books and chapbooks instead (or read Milk Press for free) for yourself or others. Whatever you decide, we wish you the best and would love to see you at one of our happenings. (Discounted until the end of the year!) No stress, we will be here when you decide to give yourself a break. <3

Scorpio

This holiday season is a time to celebate all of the people who stood by your side this past year. You might just find that your love with be reciprocated more when you speak your love gently to your loved ones. Poetry can be hard, but if you pour your heart out to one of our poets, they can help you express those deeply passionate feelings that you have. Take your time, we’re here when you need us.

Capricorn

It is almost the new year! While the world is drinking hot cocoa and listening to Mariah Carey, we’re not judging youfor assessing the fiscal quarter. Someone’s gotta do it! (And it’s you.) As we celebrate the holiday season, it’s time to tell your friends and family how much you love them. The presents you are looking for are likely to be practical. Which isn’t a bad thing! Check out our holiday market for some gifts that fit the budget, and the personality of your aforementioned loved ones. There’s truly something for everyone.

Pisces

Happy holidays to our gentle, loving sign! We hope your year was full of love platonic and romantic alike. You deserve the best from people because you give the best of yourself. As you search for the best gifts to give those loved ones, just know that we’ve got options for you. From event discounts to PSNY merch, you just might find the perfect thing for someone (or everyone) on your list. And remember, it’s okay give to yourself a little something too! Go be a little selfish.