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| The Robot, courtesy of Vernon |
vs.
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| Padraic. |
Poetry has long been thought to be a strictly human domain, but the existence of AppliedPoetics.Org suggests otherwise. Created by George Mason University MFA student Doug Luman, AppliedPoetics.Org generates found poetry from a number of different algorithms. To use, simply input a text of any kind, pick an algorithm, and run. The simplest algorithms remove certain letters, while the most complicated are inscrutable to me.
Of course, this isn’t the same as letting a robot write poetry, but it’s the closest we can get with current technology. AppliedPoetics.Org requires a human to be on hand to operate it and revise the algorithm’s output. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but challenge Floodmark’s own Padraic Price to a game of “Can you write poetry better than a robot?”
The rules were simple. Padraic and AppliedPoetics.Org would both produce found poems using the same source text. I would pilot the algorithms and revise the output, and we would either watch man triumph over machine, or else witness the birth of a new robot literati.
First, Padraic’s poem:
“The transformation”
by Padraic Price
The quenching is necessary to suppress the normal.
reactions are often more complex.
lead baths.
Uneven heating.
Overheating.
followed by a gradual drop
due to breakdown of coherence.
due to an increased tendency to retain.
soaking time should be avoided.
Water is liable to cause distortion.
There is a serious danger of cracks at the roots of the teeth.
steel is exceedingly brittle.
steel becomes softer.
while the maximum effect is obtained.
This is known as toughening
Pretty good right? Just the sort of thing a puny human would write. Now witness the poetry of your new robot overlords.
“Hardening”
by Vernon Meidlinger-Chin using AppliedPoetics.Org
Quench crack if the alloy diffusion is so slow
the corners and thick section at such a low temperature are forms.
In chromium, for an example, pale straw corresponds to 300˚C,
instead of 230˚C (Table 1).
Table 1). Table 1). Table 1). Table 1). Table 1).
Table 1. 2. 3. merge into ferrite masses and cementite, and to cause a particle.
Where hardening. When cutting
Temperature and cementite masses and thick sections
should be quenching is necessary,
therefore depressed.
Ok so at this point I should point out that AppliedPoetics.Org did not generate the poem as written. I input the text and ran the travesty algorithm with a 480 characters output and a granularity of 7, and the machine provided me with a single block that I then edited. I removed a few characters to bring the total number of characters down to 471, added line breaks, and switched the order of stanza 2 and 3 because I really liked the idea of ending a robot poem with the phrase, “therefore depressed.” Also, the robot really seemed to like “Table 1” and I’m not sure why or if there even was a reason.
Now it’s up to you, reader. Who wrote the poem better: a puny human or the pinnacle of poetry-writing technology? Will robots someday supplant humans both as the dominant species on this planet? And when they most certainly do so, will they use poetry?
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