This week, we explored creative writing with AI. Defining creativity was a challenging part of some of the readings we looked at. For these assignments, I would define creativity through the definition of personal creativity, the kind that shapes an individual’s perception or experience. These poems lack the boundary-breaking elements that transform entire domains, as capital-C creativity does (FreeThink.com).

In this assignment, I used Claude to write a poem in the style of Shel Silverstein. The initial poem had a basic prompt and produced a weak result. Then, I asked what other possibilities for a poem in Shel Silverstein’s style would look like. Claude suggested that objects come to life, or that kid logic vs. adult logic are styles of Silverstein. One idea I found interesting was about someone who wished for a million dollars, but instead got a million one-dollar bills on their head. The visual was funny, so I asked for a poem about that. After a lot of fine-tuning, I produced this poem.

Careful What You Wish

I wished upon a shooting star

For one million dollars, please!

The star said, “Sure!” and dumped them all

From forty thousand feet with ease.

The first one hit me on the nose,

The second clipped my ear,

By bill five hundred I was gone,

By thousand — disappeared.

They found me Tuesday, mostly fine,

Beneath a paper hill.

The doctor said, “You’re very rich.”

The nurse said, “And very still.”

The bank said, “Sir, we’ll need to count

Each bill before we store it.” I said,

“Of course!” and settled in.

(I should have just ignored it.)

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven —

The banker sneezed. I lost it.

One, two, three, four, five, six —

I yawned. My eyelids crossed it.

I woke up sometime Thursday noon

And counted forty-seven.

I hit eight hundred thousand once —

The banker sneezed.

One. Two.

The poem is not very good, but I was able to use effective prompts to produce a decently interesting poem that has some personal creative value for me. I think that creative writing using AI is an interesting novelty, but it would struggle to produce boundary-breaking work that transforms entire domains. Overall, I was more impressed by the creative writing capabilities of LLMs, but I remain skeptical.

Source: https://www.freethink.com/opinion/studio-ghibli-chatgpt-creativity?utm_source=tldrai