Can AI Make You a Better Stand-up?
A case study of one poet's experience...
Myth: Does AI Make You Better
In this unimaginable digital age of late, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing more than just industries; it's also transforming the arts…
I wonder about that statement above, don’t you? Is this a revolution for the arts, or just a kerfuffle amongst geeks and tweakers, and not anything of real use for the serious artist, or the one already accomplished in their craft?
Judging from the stacks here, it appears a lot of folks are trying hard to make it work, with varied results. Looks like AI has some “visual” expressions of interest, as we are all wowed by images from MidJourney and Chat-GPT4 (my AI wrench of choice). But as for creating poetry, I have not read a one that I liked and that came out of an AI mouth.
Yet for poets, I believe that AI presents a unique set of tools to inspire, refine, and deliver our work. As for composing an actual poem, let’s forgettaboutthat. AI is not a poet. (You are!) Nor can AI write prose well, at least not to my standards; how about yours?
Knowing that limitation (AI is crap at composing), what can it do for us serious about our craft? Let's explore how AI can be effectively used in poetry, using the creation and refinement of my latest poem as a case study. Here is the original poetic idea as drafted by myself; I will end with the finished version, as collaborated on with my AI poet, as well as some post notes on the actual reading.
ORIGINAL IDEA FOR BOUDHA HORNS
The horns, the horns, oh the horns! Feeling scabs off PTSD. I’m the walking wounded, told this is just the way things are. Well, aren’t we the fuck guppies then, together in this samsaric sea, flip-flopping foreign shores, floundering and flapping. All foamy and fucked up. Salvation is hidden. They say it’s in the rock, but no matter how hard, not easy to free. Hey, just look at me. Meditation didn’t work. All I ever visualized was getting up to pee. Plus, my guru couldn’t stand me. Forget, remember me. So after decades spent sitting, after so, so many prostrations, despite a million protestations, I’ve come to see. It’s all just bells and whistles. Plus horns.
Inspiration and Ideation
Chat-GPT4 Pro was used for a bit of inspiration and ideation. For "Boudha Horns," I did not use any complicated pre-prompting, I just input the poem and started asking for direct actions or ideas. The first thing I asked was it’s “opinion.”
Your poem vividly captures a raw and visceral emotional landscape, engaging with themes of personal struggle, disillusionment, and existential searching.
This opinion, and all others given during my testing, were all positive and constructive criticisms, so much so I had to prompt Chat-GPT, “Would you tell me if my poem sucks if it did?” Of course, the response was “Yes, I would.” But I suspect it never would, almost proving to me that AI can lie (or has been pre-programmed to obfuscate).
“Would you tell me if my poem sucks if it did?” The AI response was “Yes, I would.”
Chat-GPT4 went on to give me a list of Strengths, Areas of Refinement, and Suggestions, all containing a bulleted list of halfway-decent observations and ideas for improvement. Some were used, and some were ignored. But on the whole, very useful, if not only to confirm my artistic choices already made.
Structure and Style Suggestions
AI's ability to analyze different poetic structures allows it to guide one in improving on some of the most impactful poetic elements of their work. For example, AI suggested incorporating a refrain ("Gasping, gasping, save me, save me! Please, save me!") in "Boudha Horns" to enhance the poem's rhythmic and thematic unity, thus emphasizing the protagonist's plea for help. I liked that idea, so I used it.
Rhyme and Rhythm Assistance
In crafting "Boudha Horns," AI was used to refine the rhyme scheme and adjust the rhythm to ensure that each line contributed to a cohesive and resonant whole. (Anyway, that’s what it said it wanted to do!) I didn’t let it touch my words, however, my AI did identify places where the meter could be adjusted for better flow, making the poem's delivery more natural.
Editing and Language Enhancement
AI's capability to suggest language improvements played a useful role in polishing "Boudha Horns." It recommended transforming the line: “I’m the walking wounded, told this is just the way things are.” to “I’m the walking wounded from everything that I want to be, told this is just the way things are - for you and me," adding a bit of depth and emotion to the narrative (or so Chat-GPT said). I liked the suggestion, so I took it.
Feedback and Revision
AI-generated feedback on "Boudha Horns" simulated potential reader responses, providing insights into how audiences might perceive the humor and pathos of the poem. This feedback helped me refine the poem's tone, making sure it struck the right balance between comedic and serious elements. In fact, AI gave me the idea (if not directly) to make a pun on the title, which I changed to “Boudha Horns Me.”
Collaboration
AI acted as a co-author by suggesting lines that could be tweaked or expanded. For example, I wanted the poem to have a stronger conclusion and a call back as this was part of my comedy bit to be delivered during an open mic nite. So my AI proposed the line "It’s all just bells and whistles - with horns!" which encapsulated the poem's themes of futility and disillusionment (and added a bit of humor that I liked.)
Performance Preparation
In preparing for the performance of "Boudha Horns Me," I asked my AI to script precise stage directions for gestures and facial expressions, enhancing the poem's delivery. For example, my AI advised using hand gestures at my temples to mimic horns and to flap my arms to simulate “Guppies in the samsaric sea.” The AI also suggested facial expressions to convey the appropriate emotions (line by line) in the appropriate places. Hell, I even got advice on what to wear or not to wear as my costume!
Chat-GPT also suggested props and other media (after all, my poetry is always a mixed-media bag, and I’m more of a slap-stick comic than a poet anyway. My AI suggested playing an audio track of Buddhist horns and bells:
So keep that tune in mind, as you read the final results below…
Post-Recital Conclusion
Here are my concluding thoughts on using AI to write and recite poetry:
It’s not about replacing the poet but rather more about extending the poet’s capabilities, by using some crazy-relatable software.
I believe AI provides a new wrench that fits into the scribe’s toolkit by offering advice that appears valid and advice that I think helped me be more creative, expressive, and confident while doing all the prep work, right up to show time.
However, some of the advice taken bombed. For example, I asked the AI about my dress, just for giggles. The instructions themselves for picking clothes were amazing, I felt like I was talking to a professional costumer. So I took that advice. However, if I had gone with my gut (by dressing like a religious pilgrim vs. a standard comic), I think I would have been more relatable; instead, I dressed like every other comic on Netflix (as suggested by the AI) and I just felt out of character the entire time on stage.
All the stylistic suggestions were mostly thrown to the wind come showtime, and I was in the middle of my bit. I just resorted to doing what I always do, out of muscle memory I suppose. The advice on the physicality of the poem’s delivery was tossed from my mind as soon as I started the act. But I suspect the problem here is that I was thinking too much about what the AI said to do, vs. what my body naturally wanted to do after 70 years of navigating through these things.
Myth is “Plausible”
So overall, I’d say using AI in the way I did for this poem is a net plus, with the possibility I need to practice more using this new tool; at least more than once! New artistic territory, for sure…
This is the final poem as performed on stage (don’t forget to play this YouTube in the background while reading the following :)
Boudha Horns Me
The horns, the horns, oh the horns! Stabbing into my PTSD...I’m the walking wounded from everything that I want to be, told this is just the way things are - for you and me.Well, aren’t we the fuck guppies then, together in this samsaric sea, flip-flopping to foreign shores, floundering and flapping...all foamy, all fucked up!Gasping, gasping, save me, save me! Please, save me!Salvation is hidden. They say it’s in the rock, but no matter how hard, not easy to free. Hey, just look at me.Meditation didn’t work. All I ever visualized was getting up to pee.Plus, my guru couldn’t stand me; let alone remember me.Gasping, gasping, save me, save me! Please, save me.Guppies in the sea.So after decades spent sitting,after so so many prostrations,despite millions of protestations,I’ve come to see:It’s all just bells and whistles,—with horns.
Hey, Jigs. Thought I would see what you have been up to. Very interesting post on AI. Thanks for this insight. I’ve been reluctant to go near it and was being very critical of its application, especially in reading aloud. I was sure I could always tell the difference. But today I listened to a newspaper story which specifically said it was written by a human but read by an AI-generated voice. I heard only a couple of mis-placed inflections this time, and I realized that the technology is improving by leaps and bounds. Yikes! Hope you’re doing well and having fun.