“Like a Computer in My Heart”: How AI Poetry Betrays Our Desire for Human Connection

Could I drive indefinitely?
Just like the meadow bee
And only visit where I like,
And no man visits me,

I would float above the green hills,
Looking for hidden clearings,
Where sunlight penetrates through the trees,
And dances in the shadows.

The breeze would be my constant friend,
The sky is my limitless roof,
And in the silence of nature’s breath,
I would find my living proof.

For in the silence of the wilderness,
My soul would find peace,
A gentle, endless hike,
Where all my worries would end,
In the wide embrace of nature,
My heart is true, quiet lease.

Do you like Emily Dickinson? Your poetry is beautiful, isn’t it? Original, impressive, lively. The rhymes are subtle. The lines flow smoothly from one image to the next.

If you thought these verses were written by Dickinson, you’re not alone. That’s what all but one of the eight students who took part in our pilot study on reactions to AI-generated poetry thought.

But only the first four lines are from Dickinson. The remaining lines were…