Are you a poet? / Google’s new AI will help / Rewrite your shit prose


If you’re an aspiring poet who doesn’t know your sonnets from your stanzas, a new Google AI app could transform you into a legendary wordsmith. Or at least, a decent impersonation of one.

Verse by Verse is described by the Big G as “an experimental AI-powered muse that helps you compose poetry inspired by classic American poets.” It’s powered by a combination of two machine learning models: a generator trained on lauded poetry, and a second model that decides which of its verses would fit your next line.

You can choose up to three classic poets as inspiration, and then select a poetic form, rhyme scheme, and syllable count for your creation. Finally, you feed the AI an opening line and let your muses complete the verse.

I went for a mix of Edgar Allan Poe, the master of horror; Phillis Wheatley, America‘s first published Black poet; and Emily Dickinson, whose fondness for self-isolation should provide timely inspiration.

[Read: Why this security engineer loves working in infosec]

I didn’t want to inhibit the creativity of my muses, so set the form to free-verse and the syllable count to any. For the first lines, I stole a jolly refrain from the perfect poem for pandemic life: A Litany in the Time of Plague by Thomas Nashe.

I am sick, I must die.
Lord have mercy on us!

Credit: Google