Opinion: Machine-made poetry is here

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/10/ [login to see] /opinion-machine-made-poetry-is-here
More than a million people have reportedly tried out ChatGPT, a new chatbot from the research lab OpenAI - AI for "artificial intelligence." Users can ask it questions, or submit prompts for poems, term papers, or essays.

"It makes mistakes," Calum Chace, the author and expert on AI told us, "and plagiarizes from the internet. But the speed and quality is remarkable. Anti-plagiarism software packages are already hard pressed. Their work probably just became impossible."

I asked ChatGPT to write a poem about childhood. Within seconds, it sent back these lines:

"Childhood, a time of wonders,
A time of joy and fun..."

...and went on to invoke trees, mud pies, innocence, and the sound of cicadas. What, no puppies?

Katha Pollitt, one of America's great poets and critics, read that poem and told us, "Cliched and tiresome. I don't think Auden has to worry about his laurels."