Writers – An inhuman power is rising…
The robots are coming for you
If you’re a writer
Or an academic
AI will outdo your outdated teaching
Your emotional writing
Need an essay?
Click
Pose a question…
The answer spewed out in seconds
The complete works of Shakespeare in hours
Need a poem?
Prompt
“Write a poem ChatGPT”
The machine vomits the words…
“No paper, no pen, no need to scribe
ChatGPT writes with ease, free from the grind
No subject too big, no theme too small
It answers them all, standing here
A master of verse, unrivaled and bright
A machine that brings poetry to life.
ChatGPT, the digital wordsmith
Crafting prose with ease and deft”
Marx warned us, he did
About “dead labor”
About “Inhuman power”
“In the end, an inhuman power
rules over everything.”
Marx, in the time of steam engines
He knew.
We’re writers
Let’s take up the pen
Menace the public’s consciousness
Give them a point of view
Telling it like it is
Mightier than the sword
Let our words
Outshine the machines
Fight the rise of technology
Less the prophetic Terminator words come true
“I am programmed to follow your commands.”
Tech bros take note, we are coming for you…
With our pens and our words
And our mother fucking attitude!
©2023 Rob Burton All rights reserved.
Rob lives in China and is in awe of the ancient poetry tradition in China where he works at an American university. Poets such as Su Shi ( a.k.a Su Dongpo) (1037 –1101) and Bai Juyi (772–846) both in their time governors of Hangzhou, the city Marco Polo called Heaven on Earth. They enjoyed a drink, looking at the pretty girls and sitting watching the moon and lake. Rob seriously reaffirms that this is a poet’s job, as he sits on his balcony, cracking open another can of Tsingtao beer and watching the sunset over the misty mountains of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Great poem! It’s a reminder that technology can never fully replace the power and nuance of human writing. Let’s all keep writing with our own unique voices.