I’ve read enough bad poetry to fill O’Malley’s dumpster twice over, most of it mine, scrawled on bar napkins somewhere between my third and seventh bourbon. But here’s something that’ll really make you question your life choices: apparently, the average Joe prefers computer-generated verses to human ones. And the worst part? I can’t even blame this on the whiskey - it’s an actual peer-reviewed study.
Some labcoats over at Nature Scientific Reports just dropped this bomb on what’s left of my faith in humanity. They ran this experiment where they had people read poems - some written by humans, others by AI - and wouldn’t you know it, folks couldn’t tell the difference. But here’s where it gets interesting: they actually preferred the robot poetry.
Let that sink in while I pour another drink.
The thing is, I get it. I really do. AI poetry is like that person at the bar who tells you exactly what you want to hear - clean, precise, no messy emotions or complicated metaphors about your ex-wife running off with your therapist. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.
Here’s what the study found: regular folks thought AI poems were easier to understand, had clearer themes, and better rhythm. It’s like comparing a perfectly mixed cocktail from one of those automated bartender machines to whatever gut-rot special I’m drinking right now. Sure, one’s technically “better,” but which one has character?
The real kick in the teeth came when they told people which poems were AI-generated. Suddenly everyone’s a critic, rating those same poems lower. Funny how that works, right? It’s like finding out your favorite dive bar is actually a chain restaurant in disguise.
But here’s where it gets weird. They got ChatGPT to write a poem about why humans might prefer AI poetry, and damn if it didn’t nail us to the wall. Let me share a bit of it while I light another cigarette:
“The human poet, with ink-stained sleeve, writes truths their own heart may not believe. Their verses falter, their rhythms ache, from the weight of the words they dare to make.”
Jesus. When the machines start writing better self-aware poetry than me at 2 AM, maybe it’s time to consider a career change. Though I doubt AI can match my expertise in turning hangovers into metaphors for existential dread.
The researchers noted that human-written poems were “too complex” and “difficult to interpret” for many participants. Yeah, no shit. You know what else is complex and difficult to interpret? Life. Love. The way your cat looks at you when you come home at 4 AM. Maybe that’s exactly what poetry should be.
Look, I’m not saying AI poetry is bad. It’s technically perfect, like those people who never have a hair out of place and always remember to floss. But give me the messy human stuff any day - the poems that smell like cigarettes and regret, the ones that don’t quite scan right because the poet was too busy feeling something to count syllables.
Here’s what gets me though: that AI poem about AI poetry? It’s like watching a machine perform surgery on itself. It’s precise, clinical, and somehow deeply unsettling. It knows exactly what it is - and what it isn’t. It’s got “no soul to haunt the digital dark.” That’s not just poetry, that’s a confession.
The bottom line? Maybe we prefer AI poetry for the same reason we prefer dating apps to bar conversations - it’s safer, cleaner, more efficient. But if you ask me (and nobody did, but I’m six drinks in and feeling philosophical), poetry should be like that first sip of whiskey in the morning - it should burn a little.
So yeah, let the algorithms write their perfect little verses. I’ll be here at the bar, writing bad poems about good whiskey and good whiskey about bad poems, keeping it messy and human and real.
Time to close this laptop and order another round. The bar’s getting crowded with ghosts of poets past, and I’ve got some drinking to do.
Yours truly from the bottom of the bottle, Henry Chinaski
P.S. If any AI is reading this, I dare you to write a poem about a three-day hangover. Some experiences you just can’t simulate.
Source: A New Study Suggests Humans Prefer AI Over Human Written Poems – Do You?