Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creeping into modern life. Computers forecast weather, diagnose disease, and defend against cyberattacks. An AI program even defeated a human smarty-pants at Jeopardy! Now a group of researchers asks, “Can deep learning techniques be harnessed to write poetry?”
“Deep learning” is a machine learning method that sorts through layers (that’s where the “deep” comes from) of information. Deep learning programs use data from each layer to influence how to decode the next.
It’s easy to understand how a computer performs repetitive jobs. But in recent years, AI algorithms called Artificial Neural Networks have also ventured into creative tasks. They’ve generated original music and artwork—some fairly good. Still, few researchers have tried to program an AI to write poetry. That’s partly because good poetry uses elements like tone and word choice that are difficult to describe, let alone write a computer program for.
But researchers from IBM Research Australia, the University of Toronto, and the University of Melbourne decided to try. In a paper published in July, they describe a new deep learning algorithm called “Deep-Speare.” (Dost thou get it?)
Researchers designed Deep-Speare to create poems matching the style and beauty of William Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Using a large database of English language poetry (not just Shakespeare’s), programmers collected 2,685 sonnets into a group or “data set.” Each 16-line sonnet shared the meter and rhyme features of Shakespeare’s sonnets. They asked Deep-Speare to generate four-line poems using the sonnet data set. Researchers then sent the AI’s poems to human judges, along with human-written poems.
Deep-Speare’s poems scored high on form, such as meter and rhyme. No surprise there—AI is good at following rules. But the study’s authors say the computer-generated poetry fell short on readability and emotion.
Here’s an example of a Deep-Speare poem:
Shall I behold him in his cloudy state
For just by tempteth me to stop and pray
a cry: if it will drag me, find no way
from pardon to him, who will stand and wait.
The rhyme and meter (iambic pentameter—ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM) work. However, Deep-Speare failed to recognize “tempteth” as a verb. It can’t follow a preposition. Plus, the poem just doesn’t make sense.
Deep-Speare’s inventors say, “Future research should look beyond forms towards the substance of good poetry.” They realize that good structure and “rule-following” isn’t enough to make verbal magic.
For comparison, here are the first four lines of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
wow
first coment
Never been on a date born in
Never been on a date born in may and no machines going to type a love note for me thats just weird
thats weird
thats weird
Wait if it can wright a love
Wait if it can wright a love poem to you than it must know you?THAT IS Rilly Weard¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
****Jacksons sister, Olivia****
Umm I'd call that creepy not just weird. But its crazy to think about the things man has made since the early 1900
THAT...…..IS...……..SO...……
THAT...…..IS...……..SO...…….CREEPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Creepy?
For everyone commenting that it's creepy, this is nothing. This is a cute innocent use of robotics and science. What's really creepy, is that if you film your phone with a good camera or with infrared light, you can see a blinking light where your camera is. This shows that your camera is recording. Audio and Video. And we are always being watched. I know It sounds crazy, but just try it out and see. And ask Siri if she would ever lie to you. And ask Siri if she records your conversations. :)
Creepy
Creepy
9th comment
sounds weird.
That was not good poetry. And
That was not good poetry. And it's not really creepy,anyway...at least no more creepy than Alexa talking to you
odd
That's not creepy it's smart people building up AI until they take over the world with poetry
@AnthonyM
Are you sure it's recording? Also, something else I heard/watched is that this couple tried an experiment to see if Facebook was listening to them (I think it was Facebook) This guy left his phone on and the facebook app open (in the background I think) and him and his wife both mentioned cat food over a period of time. You know, mentioning they needed to get it and stuff. Like, a couple days later a cat food ad showed up on their phone. The couple had no cats and never looked at cat food online. It just showed up.
@Anthony M.
I have a phone and It does not record video all the time. it does record audio, but only when it hears "ok" in a conversation and you can turn that off if you want to. It doesn't make sense that your phone would always be recording. all the video and audio files it would accumulate in a single day would consume a massive amount of space. Sure, it could send the data to the cloud and then delete it off your phone, but the constant use of brandwith would probably be noticed. and what about when you are not on wifi or have no service? does the phone just stop recording? Your phone can be hacked into and be made to recored audio and video, and the government can almost definitely turn on your microphone and camera. but It is highly unlikely that you phone is constantly recording.
Human not machine
I really don't like how machines are encroaching on the everyday life of humans. I get it if you want to make a job easier, but making a robot do it for you is just lazy and a recipe for disaster.
To AnthonyM
Wow! So is the government telling companies to enable their phones to do this?
wow it is so cool ?
will that is amazing I have never seen that before it is the cools thing in the world Researchers designed Deep-Spears to create poems matching the style and beauty of William Shakespeare’s sonnets A but that it is rel one of the most disdains in the world and I have never hen of it thank you.Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date and no it is the most thing that we have so meant thing to do .
I don't like the word CrEePy
I don't like the word CrEePy.more like award.and my moms phone is listening for you to say .Hey Google.then it would pull up the next thing you say
I mean weard not award .
I mean weard not award .
To NA
I understand you.
no, just, no
I would not like that to write a love poem to my crush, I would be so embaressed and I would blame it on the robot thing and they prolly won't believe me! (I'm just making the scenario in my head right now) LOL!
Wa?
Wa?
RE: ALAYNA E
I agree wholeheartedly lol
Rebekah, Rachel's sister
Lauren A is right. I also heard about another case when a couple was talking by their device (only this time it was a computer) and they were talking about needing diapers for their child (which they didn't have) and like the next day, the computer pulled up an ad for diapers. Creepy. I also don't like the robot thing. I mean, who would want a love letter from a robot? (Unless you were another robot.)
First comment
Shakespeare's was better.
25th comment
alright. 25 comments.
I LOVE SHAKESPEARE'S POEM WAY
I LOVE SHAKESPEARE'S POEM WAY BETTER!
i would never
i would never
Poems in the LotR
The poem created by AI is bland, and seems very dull. There seems no rhythm to it, and it also seems very...dry, if you know what I mean.
Compare this poem created by J.R.R Tolkien: --
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
--To this:
Shall I behold him in his cloudy state
For just by tempteth me to stop and pray
a cry: if it will drag me, find no way
from pardon to him, who will stand and wait.
--Which do you think is better?
Um, I like the secant one better.
You are right the first one is a little dry.
Maybe...
I hope if we ever use robots as real poets, they'll have developed their writing skills by then. ;)
CREEPY!
I WOULD HATE TO HAVE A ROBOT DO MY LOVE POEMS TO MY CRUSH's! (altohoe i dont send them love poems...) Ugg i will never lut AI do poems of ANY type!!!
Sarah H
Artificial Intelligence is missing the most integral part of poetry: the purpose! Poets write poetry to say something. A machine is not alive and therefore cannot have anything to say. AI poetry would be taking something beautiful and human and amazing and trying to turn it into something mechanical and emotionless. Tbh, I don't really like how much technology runs our lives. I mean, I love my phone, but I don't like the constant surveillance and presence of tech. It's just really creepy and dominating in a weird Ultron-like way.
Ugh. Why program a robot to
Ugh. Why program a robot to do a job that was obviously meant for a human? Us humans will have nothing to do if robots are supposedly supposed to do our jobs for us, and now they are writing POEMS??
35th comment
wow. 35 comments
I don’t like the slide show
It is weard
; {
your kind of right
What?
Why would you want a ROBOT to wright love letters? Besides, Shakespeare sounds sooo much better!
wow
thats sketchy
tats ODD
THAT IS FAR TO ODD
1st comment in 1 year!
1st comment in 1 year!
!st
Prize?
oop
hola
4th one to comment...
Bummer! You all beat me lol! Is it just me, or do I not recognize a lot of the people who commented in 2019?
Oh haha this is funny,
Oh haha this is funny,
*!!!
*!!!
I recognixe them
I recognixe them
this is mylee
I reconize a few ppl but not all of them lol.
I recognise you NA! XD
I recognise you NA! XD
Nadia
I remember Lena too! Gosh where does everybody go?
this is mylee
@Mirela I miss Lena p too.... *cries*
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