People Cannot Distinguish When a Poem Has Been Created by Artificial Intelligence.

A recent study has revealed that poetry generated by artificial intelligence can be perceived by some readers as more moving than the works of human poets. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh conducted an experiment in which over 1,600 participants read a random combination of ten poems, five of which were written by OpenAI's ChatGPT-3.5 and five by renowned poets like Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson.

The results showed that many readers not only confused the AI-generated compositions for those of humans, but they also tended to prefer them until they were told they were created by a machine. This confusion is attributed to the fact that human poetry, often complex and rich in nuance, was misinterpreted as incoherent, while AI poems, being simpler, proved to be more accessible and less intimidating.

The researchers concluded that the poetic outputs of AI were rated more positively in terms of qualities such as rhythm and beauty, which contributed to their confusion with human works. Furthermore, they noted that participants used shared but erroneous heuristics to distinguish between poetry by humans and AI. This trend suggests that as AI tools become more sophisticated, they could challenge our traditional notions of creativity and artistic appreciation.

The phenomenon highlights that AI's ability to resonate with the audience might lead us to reconsider how we define creativity and art. Rather than focusing on whether AI can "feel" or "imagine," the emphasis could be on the connection its production has with the viewers.

Henry David Thoreau, known for his deep connection with poetry and humanity, also left words that emphasize this relationship. In his poem "I Am a Parcel of Vain Strivings Tied," he reflects on the struggles and essence of existence, suggesting that art is an encounter between creation and human perception.