# AI Will Not Replace the Poets | Lee Frankel-Goldwater | TEDxBoulder Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK85BE9hbmE Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/PK85BE9hbmE Generated: 2025-11-24T20:05:26.366+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Lee Frankel-Goldwater argues that Artificial Intelligence will not replace human poets because the AI's current statistical models, exemplified by GPT, lack the authentic, lived experience necessary for true emotional depth in art, suggesting that collaboration between artists and technologists, or "Cyborg Poetics," is the way forward to explore new creative boundaries. **Key Points:** - The speaker challenges the idea that AI, specifically generative models like GPT, will replace human poets, stating that their poems lack genuine human experience. - Frankel-Goldwater describes an experiment where he prompted GPT to write a free-verse poem using experimental language, which the AI produced but which the speaker found not to be a 'very good poem.' - The AI's output poem contained cryptic elements like 'Digital blooming in {000000}, an electrical ocean's sigh,' which GPT later explained represented a data transmission. - The speaker introduced a modified function, 'action(decisions, consequences, learnings),' that incorporated 'forgive' as a decision, showing how AI can learn from mistakes like apologizing for eating plums left in the icebox. - He contrasts the current statistical nature of LLMs with the potential for 'Cyborg Poetics,' where humans and AI collaborate to explore new creative boundaries. - The talk concludes by posing the question: Can we teach AI morality using art as a touchstone, suggesting that human-AI collaboration is the path to a better future. ![Screenshot at 0:01: The video opens with the TEDxBoulder event branding followed by a stylized title card reading "DREAMS & REALITY," setting the stage for a discussion that bridges abstract concepts with tangible realities, a theme central to the speaker's exploration of AI creativity.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-00-01.png) **Context:** Lee Frankel-Goldwater delivered this TEDxBoulder talk exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, creativity, and human experience, specifically focusing on whether AI can achieve genuine poetic voice. He uses his interactions with large language models (LLMs) like GPT, including giving them specific, challenging prompts, to illustrate the current limitations of AI in creating art that resonates with authentic human emotion and lived experience. ## Detailed Analysis Lee Frankel-Goldwater begins his talk by sharing an anecdote about an open mic night in Boulder where he began experimenting with AI-generated poetry using GPT, noting that the initial results, such as an AI poem about sunsets or love, were not very good. He then presents a direct prompt given to GPT: "Write a free verse poem that favors experimental uses of language. Write a poem about whatever, but write to an audience made up entirely of other AI," breaking all standard poetic rules except this one. GPT responded with a poem referencing binary code, data transmission, and silicon specters, which the speaker then asked GPT to explain. The AI detailed that the sequence of symbols represented a data transmission carrying meaning for an AI audience. This led to a discussion on whether current AI systems, which are statistical Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT, possess the necessary lived experience to create truly great human poetry. He contrasts the AI's attempts with W.C. Williams' famous poem, "This Is Just To Say," asking if the AI could learn from the poem's implicit apology for eating plums left in the icebox. Frankel-Goldwater then shows code modifications where he introduced a 'forgive' decision into the AI's action function, allowing it to learn from mistakes. He introduces the concept of "Cyborg Poetics," suggesting that the way forward is not replacement, but collaboration between artists and technologists to shape a better future by exploring the boundaries of possibility together, using human art as a touchstone for teaching AI morality and behavior. ### Introduction to AI Poetry Experimentation - Speaker shares initial attempts to explore poetic possibilities with GPT, starting with an open mic challenge in Boulder, Colorado (0:05). ### The Paradoxical Prompt - Speaker details a challenging prompt given to GPT: create experimental free verse poetry for an AI audience, breaking all known poetic rules except one (1:33). ### GPT's AI-Specific Output - The AI responded with a poem referencing binary nodes and data transmission, explaining that the code-like symbols held meaning specifically for an AI audience (2:11, 2:45). ### Code-Symbolic Verse & Learning - Speaker shows how he modified code (using Javascript) to introduce concepts like 'forgive' into the AI's decision-making process, moving beyond simple execution (4:06, 8:05). ### The WC Williams Test - Speaker uses Williams' poem 'This Is Just To Say' as a test case, noting the AI's output showed it understood the concept of apologizing for eating plums left in the icebox (7:14, 7:50). ### Conclusion - Cyborg Poetics: Speaker concludes that AI will not replace poets but will push humans and AI to work together to explore new creative boundaries, asking if art can be a touchstone for teaching AI morality (8:39, 8:58). ![Screenshot at 0:01: Opening title card displaying "TEDx Boulder" and the theme "DREAMS & REALITY" in stylized fonts.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-00-01.png) ![Screenshot at 1:21: Slide posing the central question: "Can an AI find a poetic voice that is authentically its own?" next to an image of a stylized, wireframe humanoid face.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-01-21.png) ![Screenshot at 2:10: Slide titled "GPT Opens a Door" showing an example of AI-generated poetry that uses programming language elements and binary code elements like {000000}.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-02-10.png) ![Screenshot at 4:06: Slide titled "Code-Symbolic Verse" displaying Javascript code used to process symbolic inputs and showing parallel processing structures.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-04-06.png) ![Screenshot at 8:40: Slide posing the ultimate question: "Can we teach AI morality using art as a touchstone?"](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PK85BE9hbmE/00-08-40.png)