ChatGPT Delivers A Poem About Nothingness

The Future and the Past. (Produced w/Photoleap)

As some of you may know I have been fascinated by the possibilities and limitations of Artificial Intelligence these past several years. As early as 2016 I wrote about a pair of Calum Chace's books on the impact AI will have on white collar jobs. Last year I played around with an AI bot called Sudowrite, producing a story and quite a bit of poetry. 

Kazui Ishiguro's book Klara and the Sun explores many of the issues associated with AI-powered robotics, and lots of digital ink has been spilled writing about the latest iterations of an AI writing program called ChatGPT.

In the art realm I have likewise been fascinated by a pair of programs that utilize AI to create illustrations and images. At the end of this page I will include links to some of the above essays and explorations. 

ChatGPT is not yet perfect. I asked it to write a short essay about the Duluth music scene and it included a venue that is shuttered and has been so for two or three years. 

Till an hour ago I essentially asked it questions and ChatGPT produced short essays. Then I asked it to write a poem for me on Nothingness. Here's what the machine produced.

A Poem About Nothingness

 

Nothingness, a vast and empty space

Where thoughts go to be erased

No sound, no light, no time, no place

Just an endless, blank erasing

A void of emptiness, a lack of form

A space that's never-ending

No beginning, no end, no seed, no norm

Just a boundless, endless, never-mending

No memories, no dreams, no hope, no fears

Just a limitless, endless, boundless, never-clearing

No past, no present, no future, no tears

Just a timeless, spaceless, endless, never-appearing

Nothingness, a realm of pure oblivion

Where all is lost and nothing is given

A realm of pure and utter nothingness

Where nothing exists and nothing is living

* * * 

Things I especially like about the poem include the assonance (e.g., oblivion / given) and also the structure. Notice the third line of each of the first three stanzas, and then a slight variation as we reach the conclusion. 

The opening grabbed me right off. "Nothingness, a vast and empty space where thoughts go to be erased." It's not an image that would immediately pop into my head. 

What do you think? I find it fascinating.

Related Links
My 2016 review of Surviving AI by Calum Chace
A Visit with Futurist Calum Chace on His New Book The Economic Singularity
Two Versions of The Comet, Light and Dark
Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun Is Another Stellar Achievement

I've also been collaborating with a pair of AI "art" bots. You can see some of the things "we" have created here on my Instagram page.

Life Notes About Nothing

Nothing comes out of nothing. Or rather, everything comes out of something.

I came out of my mother’s womb. I was birthed out of a family history. The words I write today come out of my mind. The ink flows out of my pen. My thoughts give birth to ideas which emerge in words, sounds, pictures and actions.

Everything comes out of something. Nothing comes out of nothing.

These were some of my thoughts as I was thinking about the Big Bang Theory. Where did the bang come from? Out of nothing? If there was nothing, how could something happen?

In the beginning…

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation on an airplane. At one point the woman I was speaking with (I'll call her Dee to protect her identity) asked, “If you had two hours in God’s presence where you could ask God anything you wanted, what would you ask?"

That question didn't come out of the blue, out of thin air, out of nothing, either. We'd been talking for quite some time before such personal explorations could be broached. A framework had been established. But now, the question was out there.

Before I share my first reply, I’ll ask you: What questions would you ask God? You have two full hours. (This is for you to answer to yourself. No need to send me anything.)

I only had one question initially and after that my mind was blank. Its been a decades-long recurring theme for me and it always comes back to this: Why am I here?

In the moment I really didn’t know what else I could ask. Later, as I was driving home other questions finally began to emerge. Where does beauty come from? Why do we respond to beauty? Or rather, why do I respond to it the way I do? Why is beauty beautiful?

That was the first set of personal inquiries. Many more questions soon followed.

Maybe you have questions for God. Maybe asking the questions will unlock something for you.

I have one more for you. When are you going to get around to taking that personal retreat you’ve always promised yourself? Perhaps it’s time to get re-centered.

The world pushes and pulls us in so many directions. There are so many voices telling us what we should do, who we should be, where we should go. In the midst of all this "noise" there's a still small voice... within. Remember who you are.

On another topic...

Once again it’s Homegrown Festival this week in the Twin Ports. There’s music in the air. It’s coming from everywhere. Even this didn't come from nothing. Our music scene has emerged from a rich music tradition. And from a vibrant creative culture that invites you to visit, or even join. It's really something.

Catch the groove and let it carry you… away.