The video under discussion engages with the provocative and multilayered question: Can a computer write poetry? This inquiry is not confined merely to the technical capacities of artificial intelligence but extends toward profound philosophical and existential debates concerning creativity, intelligence, and humanity itself. The speaker frames the discourse through a series of interactive tests in which participants are asked to distinguish between poems written by humans and those generated by algorithms. The exercise demonstrates the significant difficulty humans face in making such distinctions. By presenting works from canonical poets such as William Blake, Frank O’Hara, and Gertrude Stein alongside AI-generated verses, the speaker shows that computational systems can produce poetry capable of deceiving human readers. This capacity unsettles traditional notions of authorship and originality, suggesting that creativity can no longer be considered the exclusive domain of human beings.
The discussion is explicitly situated within the conceptual frame of the Turing test, originally designed to evaluate machine intelligence by assessing conversational ability. In this context, however, the test is adapted to the realm of poetry, thereby expanding the terrain of inquiry from linguistic imitation to cultural production. The speaker argues that questioning whether computers can compose poetry is inseparable from larger philosophical questions about the very nature of creativity, humanity, and identity. Computers, rather than standing as autonomous creative agents, are presented as mirrors—reflecting human qualities, cultural codes, and stylistic conventions that are embedded within their programming. Thus, the issue is not merely whether creative machines can be built but also what conception of humanity such machines are designed to reproduce and reflect.
Several highlights from the presentation reinforce this trajectory of thought. The central question “Can a computer write poetry?” emerges as a catalyst for deeper reflection upon creativity, humanity, and technology. The historical example of a 1970s algorithm is introduced, which succeeded in deceiving audiences into believing its output to be authentically human. This instance illustrates that even early AI displayed a surprising degree of linguistic creativity. The speaker demonstrates how a Turing test for poetry brings forward the blurred boundary between human and computer-generated artistic production. Significantly, The presentation reveals that algorithms have successfully deceived up to 65% of human judges in identifying machine poetry, thereby surpassing Turing’s original benchmark for intelligence. At the RKCP algorithm is discussed, which emulates linguistic style without semantic understanding, further complicating notions of meaning and creativity.The instability of the very concept of human is emphasized, underscoring its socially constructed rather than fixed scientific status. Finally, the conversation shifts toward a philosophical perspective, insisting that debates on AI creativity should prioritize questions concerning the image of humanity that machines are made to reflect.
The key insights drawn from the video further refine this argument. It is stressed that the question of computer-generated poetry prompts fundamental philosophical inquiries. Posing the question requires reconsidering the very definitions of “computer,” “poetry,” “creativity,” and “humanity.” These are not straightforward categories but complex, lifelong questions with no definitive answers. Thus, the issue transcends technical capacities, extending into existential reflection. Attention is drawn to the surprising poetic outputs of early algorithms such as Racter in the 1970s. Despite their simplicity, such algorithms could produce text easily mistaken for human-authored poetry, indicating that machine mimicry of creative expression has a longer history than is often acknowledged.
The notion of a Turing test for poetry is introduced. This adaptation of the original AI benchmark reframes intelligence as a matter of cultural and artistic production. The outcomes of such tests underscore the subjective nature of judging creativity, as machines can convincingly emulate poetic expression. The observation that computer-generated poems have fooled up to 65% of human judges surpasses Turing’s original criteria for intelligence. This finding challenges the assumption that machines are inherently incapable of creativity or intelligence, showing that the boundary is increasingly porous.
The RKCP algorithm is analyzed in detail. Its method involves modeling stylistic and structural patterns in source texts, reproducing similar outputs without semantic comprehension. This demonstrates that creativity in poetry may emerge not from meaning or intent but from structural mimicry. The revelation invites critical reflection on whether true creativity must necessarily involve intentionality and understanding, or whether imitation alone suffices.
The video highlights the fluid and constructed nature of the human category. The fact that human poetry may be mistaken for machine output, and vice versa, destabilizes long-standing binaries between human and machine. This instability forces reconsideration of the qualities we associate with humanity and creativity, showing them to be contingent and culturally shaped rather than absolute.
The speaker concludes by asserting that AI functions as a mirror of human ideas rather than as an autonomous originator. Computers generate poetry not from independent thought but from reproducing patterns of human linguistic and cultural input. Thus, the ethical and philosophical concern lies not only in whether machines can produce poetry but in what version of humanity we wish such technologies to embody. The issue becomes less about technical feasibility and more about the values, biases, and self-conceptions encoded into our machines.
In conclusion, the presentation reframes the debate surrounding AI-generated poetry. What initially appears as a technical question—whether computers can write poems—ultimately evolves into a philosophical challenge. The conversation forces us to reconsider how creativity, intelligence, and humanity itself are defined in the contemporary age of advanced computation. The speaker’s central insight is that computers, far from independent creators, act as mirrors reflecting the human qualities, assumptions, and images we inscribe within them. Consequently, the real question becomes not if machines can create but what conception of humanity they are made to reflect back to us.
CLic Activity Book - Study material site
12.1
My Experience of Activity 12.1: The Openness of Fairy Tales
When I started reading the first two pages of A Christmas Carol, I noticed how Dickens suddenly used the phrase “once upon a time”. Normally, this phrase reminds me of fairy tales, which often begin with it to signal a magical or imaginary story. But in this context, Dickens places it inside a very realistic description of Scrooge’s counting-house on Christmas Eve. The contrast struck me: it felt like Dickens was deliberately blending the traditional fairy-tale style with the harsh reality of Victorian London. It gave me the sense that while the story is grounded in social issues, it will also carry a moral lesson in the way fairy tales usually do.
When I searched the phrase “once upon a time” in CLIC across the ChLit, 19C, and DNov corpora, I could see that the phrase often appeared at the start of narratives, usually in a very fixed and formulaic way. In fairy tales, it marks a beginning and creates distance between the real world and the story world. But Dickens’s use feels unusual because it doesn’t come at the start of the novel, nor is it introducing a fantasy land. Instead, it almost feels ironic—he uses the fairy-tale phrase but then immediately ties it to the very specific, gloomy reality of Scrooge’s London.
Doing this activity made me realise how Dickens plays with reader expectations. “Once upon a time” usually signals childhood innocence, but here it is mixed with coldness, fog, and Scrooge’s hard-heartedness. For me, the phrase highlights how A Christmas Carol is both a social novel and a kind of moral tale, open to multiple interpretations just like fairy tales themselves.
While doing this activity, I noticed how Dickens connects the beginning of A Christmas Carol with later events. At the start of the story, Marley is described as being “as dead as a door-nail.” In this extract, that detail comes back when the description of the “knocker” and the “screws and nuts” is used. I understood that Dickens repeats the word “knocker” five times to stress its importance and to make Scrooge’s sudden vision of Marley’s face more powerful and believable.
As I read, I felt how ordinary things in the story, like a door knocker, turn into something supernatural. This shows how the past (Marley’s death) continues to return to Scrooge, even though he tries to ignore it. I also realised that Dickens carefully links images and words so the story feels connected and meaningful.
Through this activity, I learned to pay attention to repeated words and small details because they often prepare the reader for important events later in the text. It helped me to see how Dickens builds suspense and keeps reminding us of Marley’s death, which is necessary for the ghostly events to make sense.
Knocker:
12.2
My Experience with Activity 12.2: Fire in A Christmas Carol
When I first read the given extract from A Christmas Carol, I noticed how Charles Dickens used the image of fire to reflect Scrooge’s personality. Scrooge kept a very small fire for himself, and his clerk’s fire was even smaller, almost disappearing into a single coal. To me, this showed that Scrooge was cold, miserly, and unwilling to share warmth or comfort with others. The fire here became a symbol of generosity and human kindness, which Scrooge deliberately withholds. The fact that the clerk tries to warm himself at a candle but fails highlights the lack of compassion in Scrooge’s workplace.
After this, I went to the CLIC concordance tool and ran a search for the word fire in A Christmas Carol. I found that the word appears quite frequently and is spread evenly throughout the text. This was interesting because it suggests that Dickens consistently uses fire as an image to reflect warmth, life, and sometimes contrast with coldness and misery. For example, the fire often represents family gatherings, celebration, and comfort during Christmas, while in the beginning, its scarcity represents Scrooge’s isolation and lack of kindness.
Doing this activity helped me see how the symbol of fire develops throughout the story. At first, it is small and restricted, connected with Scrooge’s miserly nature, but as the novel moves forward and Scrooge changes, fire comes to symbolise joy, generosity, and community. I realised that Dickens carefully places fire across the text so that it works as both a literal and symbolic element, showing how warmth and humanity grow stronger as Scrooge transforms.
Second word
When I first read the given extract from A Christmas Carol, I noticed how Charles Dickens used the image of fire to reflect Scrooge’s personality. Scrooge kept a very small fire for himself, and his clerk’s fire was even smaller, almost disappearing into a single coal. To me, this showed that Scrooge was cold, miserly, and unwilling to share warmth or comfort with others. The fire here became a symbol of generosity and human kindness, which Scrooge deliberately withholds. The fact that the clerk tries to warm himself at a candle but fails highlights the lack of compassion in Scrooge’s workplace.
After this, I went to the CLIC concordance tool and ran a search for the word fire in A Christmas Carol. I found that the word appears quite frequently and is spread evenly throughout the text. This was interesting because it suggests that Dickens consistently uses fire as an image to reflect warmth, life, and sometimes contrast with coldness and misery. For example, the fire often represents family gatherings, celebration, and comfort during Christmas, while in the beginning, its scarcity represents Scrooge’s isolation and lack of kindness.
Doing this activity helped me see how the symbol of fire develops throughout the story. At first, it is small and restricted, connected with Scrooge’s miserly nature, but as the novel moves forward and Scrooge changes, fire comes to symbolise joy, generosity, and community. I realised that Dickens carefully places fire across the text so that it works as both a literal and symbolic element, showing how warmth and humanity grow stronger as Scrooge transforms.
1790 Love and Freindship
Jane Austen
experience of using Voyant
By using the frequency graph, I could see how certain words became more important in different parts of the text. For example, “love” appeared strongly in the beginning, but other words related to pain and misfortune also increased later, which reflects the dramatic and exaggerated style of the story.
This activity helped me to notice patterns in Austen’s writing that I might not have picked up just by reading. I realised that digital tools like Voyant are useful for showing the structure of a text and highlighting repeated ideas. It gave me a deeper understanding of how Austen mixes humor, exaggeration, and criticism of social expectations in her early work.
Overall, the experience was interesting because it combined close reading with digital analysis. It showed me how technology can support literary study and open up new ways of looking at familiar texts.
1)In Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest, the subtitle is a clever choice that gives us insight into Wilde’s themes and tone. Wilde originally considered calling it “A Serious Comedy for Trivial People,” but he eventually changed it to “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.” Though these subtitles may seem similar, they carry distinct meanings and emphasize different ideas. Let’s explore what each means and why Wilde’s final choice is significant. Original Subtitle: “A Serious Comedy for Trivial People” If Wilde had kept the original subtitle, “A Serious Comedy for Trivial People,” it would suggest a comedy that deals with important or “serious” ideas but is meant for “trivial people.” In other words, it would imply that the play’s themes are deep, but the audience is shallow or doesn’t take life seriously. Wilde might have intended this subtitle to poke fun at his audience, suggesting they care about insignificant matters, like social status or appearances, more tha...
Analyze Pope's “The Rape of the Lock” as a Social Satire. Introduction: Poetic satire is a form of didactic poetry aimed at reforming human behavior and manners. The satirist takes on the role of a critic, boldly condemning vice and immoral behavior. As John Dryden famously stated, “The true end of satire is the ailment of vices by correction.” In essence, satire serves as a means to expose and critique human weaknesses, foolishness, absurdities, and shortcomings. To achieve this moral objective, satirists employ humor, wit, ridicule, and irony. Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, which critiques the aristocratic society of the 18th century. The poem opens with a playful observation that juxtaposes the "little" men who engage in "bold" tasks with the "gentle ladies" who can harbor such "mighty rage." This contrast serves to mock the trivial concerns and behaviors of the aristocracy, highlighting the absurdity of their social interact...
Blog is given by Prakruti ma'am. - War Poetry - Features of War Poetry Provided details of life in the trenches Often questioned the need for war, combining it with anti-war argument. The individual located within a company of fellow-sufferers Did not romanticize or sentimentalize war A universal humanism A Injury - mental and physical - is a central theme. 1 ) Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" from the English literary canon and Siegfried Sassoon's "The Hero." Both poems focus on the theme of war, but they differ significantly in style, tone, and perspective. However, they also share similarities in their critique of war’s realities. Introduction The poetry of World War I often reflects the disillusionment of soldiers who experienced its horrors firsthand. Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" and Siegfried Sassoon's "The Hero" both challenge traditional, romanticized views of war. While Owen critiques the patriotic ...
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