How To Spot AI Poetry
A follow-up to How To Spot AI
I wrote an article called How To Spot AI about 4 weeks ago, and I realized that I focused only on nonfiction writing. With AI continuing to incorporate itself into everyday life and mingling suspiciously undetected in the fiction and poetry communities, I've decided to follow up with tips and tricks on how to detect AI poetry.
I'll reiterate a few key points from my last article for those who have not read it. AI is allowed on Vocal, but its use needs to be clearly labeled. Failure to provide a disclaimer can and will often result in suspension from the platform. If you want to avoid that happening, just put a disclaimer. If you think you can slip through the cracks, it's only a matter of time.
You can read the provided resource here:
AI-generated content on Vocal should be labeled clearly as such. This labeling should be included at the beginning of the content itself as well as in any accompanying materials, whether it be links to AI-generated content or AI-generated images within the story. All AI-generated content should also be clearly attributed to the AI software that generated it. If you dabble with AI-generated content on Vocal, it is important to also be aware of the potential for copyright infringement.
Let's get into it, shall we?
1. AABB Rhyme Scheme
Every single AI poem I've ever seen follows this uber-specific format. That being said, it doesn't mean that every AABB rhyme scheme poem on Vocal is AI-generated. Let's have a look at some work from ChatGPT.
Prompt: Write me a poem about the sounds that bugs make in the summer with themes of nostalgia and fond memories.
In summer's embrace, beneath the sun's warm caress,
The symphony of bugs, a timeless duet, no less.
Their tiny voices weave a tapestry of sound,
A nostalgic melody in memories unbound.
-
Cicadas hum a chorus, a rhythmic summer song,
As memories of childhood dance and play along.
Their ceaseless buzz, a lullaby to lazy days,
In fields of gold, where time forever sways.
-
Fireflies twinkle in the twilight's tender gleam,
Like lanterns of nostalgia, they softly beam.
Their fleeting waltz, a dance of dreams gone by,
Ignites the heart with joy that will never die.
-
The crickets join the chorus with their tender trill,
A night's embrace, a longing that they instill.
Their serenade recalls nights beneath the stars,
When worries faded and we forgot our scars.
-
Oh, the sounds of bugs in summer's sweet embrace,
A symphony that time cannot erase.
Nostalgia's gentle breeze, a fond memory's call,
In the bug-filled nights, we find solace above all.
Without fail, every stanza has an AABB rhyme scheme with exactly 4 lines per stanza. Let's dig deeper.
2. Repetition
As I stated in the previous article, repetition can certainly be done artfully, but when AI does it, it tends to be redundant and lack depth.
I'm going to reference the same poem as above, but we're going to highlight the repeated words/phrases in bold.
In summer's embrace, beneath the sun's warm caress,
The symphony of bugs, a timeless duet, no less.
Their tiny voices weave a tapestry of sound,
A nostalgic melody in memories unbound.
-
Cicadas hum a chorus, a rhythmic summer song,
As memories of childhood dance and play along.
Their ceaseless buzz, a lullaby to lazy days,
In fields of gold, where time forever sways.
-
Fireflies twinkle in the twilight's tender gleam,
Like lanterns of nostalgia, they softly beam.
Their fleeting waltz, a dance of dreams gone by,
Ignites the heart with joy that will never die.
-
The crickets join the chorus with their tender trill,
A night's embrace, a longing that they instill.
Their serenade recalls nights beneath the stars,
When worries faded and we forgot our scars.
-
Oh, the sounds of bugs in summer's sweet embrace,
A symphony that time cannot erase.
Nostalgia's gentle breeze, a fond memory's call,
In the bug-filled nights, we find solace above all.
Summer - x3, Bug - x3, Nostalgia - x2, Night - x3, Memories - x2
What do all of these words have in common? I used them in the prompt.
Not only that, but "summer's embrace," "night's embrace," and "summer's sweet embrace," were used all within the span of 5 stanzas.
3. Lack of personality
Sure, the AI did what I told it to do, but it lacks the depth that a human brings to their creations. It employs metaphors, but it's also worded quite strangely.
Things that stick out to me as abnormal are: "a timeless duet, no less," "a longing that they instill," and "a fond memory's call."
Where is the human perspective here? It's capturing these ideas, but there's something personal missing.
4. What now?
AI poetry is notoriously difficult to spot and AI checkers may not always be accurate. The fewer words in a piece, the more likely work is to be flagged due to insufficient inputs, so legitimate work can be shot in the crossfire. Use your best judgment and engage with caution.
Some things that set off red flags for myself and many others are creators that post in rapid succession. Do all of their poems have the same format? Are they posting 5+ pieces daily within minutes of each other? They might be using AI to produce their work.
I'm going to reiterate, Vocal allows AI on the platform, but it must be properly labeled. I don't care what you want to do with your free time but follow the rules of the website.
For some tips on spotting AI in Fiction, check out Judey Kalchik's fun game, AINGO here:
About the Creator
Ashley Lima
BA and MA in English. Editor by profession, novelist, short story writer, and poet in my free time. I enjoy writing fantastical realism, horror, mystery, and nonfiction.
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Comments (32)
Thank you for this. I find it really useful, and yes I don't like the way AI generates poetry either.
💯 Wow, this is awesome! 👌👌👌
Ai is great
Thank you for sharing this
This is excellent! I am an editor for a few Medium publications and I have recently had suspicions about a few poems I came across as being AI-generated. We do not accept AI content and I am finding that, as you stated, detecting this in poetry is tricky. I do understand why some writers use it, although I am not a fan. But in poetry, now this especially hits me hard as it is my first love of writing. Well done!!! ❤️
Great story! I completely agree with what others have said below. I try not to read any AI writing if I can help it...It's frustrating that so much is being spewed out. I take comfort in the fact that many people all across the internet are saying they've noticed how famous AI tools are actually getting worse and not better... I've seen people say they can no longer write simple code or do maths problems that they could do before. That's not to mention how boring and repetitive the stories and poetry are, or the formulaic and often factually incorrect non-fiction it produces.
Great article! As someone who is relatively new here and is once again dipping my feet back into writing after years of neglecting what I used to enjoy so much, I find it extremely frustrating to see what is so obviously AI making top story. This happened recently and I noticed that after someone commented (I think it was Judy) the author of the AI story blocked comments. Yes, we should be vigilant, but I would think the powers that be who choose what is considered top story should be a little more so as well. Just my opinion. Anyway, thank you for an important piece.
Nice article, 👏 congratulation on top story. https://vocal.media/journal/the-following-are-15-self-start-venture-thoughts-for-2023 Please share and support my story. 🙏
I've noticed the repetition myself. I just don't get why people want to use AI to write poetry. The whole point of poetry is to be creative. That'd be like me framing a famous painting and saying I created it. It's just sad that so many people are too lazy to be creative and would rather use AI. I guess they don't realize without new material to feed AI, there's nothing for AI to put out either. Great post!
The rhyme scheme didn't really faze me but the repetition did. I didn't realise those were the words from your prompt until you pointed it out. Lately, I've seen a lot of poems with the word symphony in it and it's been repeated so many times, to the point that I'm sick of that word, lol! I can't recall whether it's the same writer. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thx for sharing your insights! I feel better prepared now!
It is amazing what AI can do, but as you state, it does have its limits. I found this out on articles posted on LinkedIn. I kept being asked to provide my insights on articles as an "expert". Then I realized they were all AI generated articles and basically us humans needed to add the human element you discuss to make it more lively. Congratulations on Top Story!
I love how you spotted these insights for Ai poetry so adeptly. 👌❤️*chefs kiss* excellent work!!
Wow, My natural poetry style is the AABB four line staza. :( I hope AI changes it's sytle
Okay, I like this list. I will be marking papers that I am sure with be under the thumb of an AI system, and this gives me a few pointers to consider. Thank you!
So what you are saying is that AI is basically the kids in 6th grade English who technically did the assignment but really had no interest or grasp of what poetry can be when done right.
Thanks for this information, Ashley. I hope my poetry reads better than AI :)
Thanks for helping raise awareness of this usage, Ashley. I've found myself looking at more and more profiles lately and the overwhelming productivity is often a dead giveaway. I enjoyed your analysis of the poem, too. A very helpful piece. Congratulations!
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing. I'm finding it more difficult to tell the difference. I read and commented on someone's poem last week. When I looked at their profile, I realized they had published more than 20 in the previous two day. I was annoyed with myself for reading the first one. lol. Congrats on the TS
I’m so glad I don’t see the AI stuff. All the creators I pay attention to have distinct voices. I think my biggest pet peeve of all as a reader is when something is pretentious—and I can tell the writer was more concerned with it being technically “good” than being authentic, revealing a universal truth, or infused with emotion. AI isn’t pretentious, but like pretentious writers it says a whole lot of nothing. That poem was the perfect example. Congrats on your Top Story! 🥂
Weirdly enough, I never thought about AI poetry. I may have come across it, but I doubt I thought it was AI generated.. I might've just not enjoyed it or something. I think the main thing that would stick out is the repetition of concepts in similar ways within the same poem. I just don't get why someone would create an AI poem.. the whole point of it is to express an idea in your own interesting way and making it artistic at the same time
Honestly, I'm in the camp that squints their eyes at Chat GPT being allowed on Vocal. Even for nonfiction, I feel it cheats honest writers out of the effort they put in. If you're on Vocal to make money, then I see why Chat GPT could be seen as a hack in your eyes (although I'm not sure how many people would read such an article all the way to the end, so would you even get reads?)...But I don't understand why Vocal allows it at all. I don't know a single person who would choose to read an article written by a bot. Just because it's labeled doesn't mean it's worth reading. Caveat: Unless you're playing a game with AI detection in your article or otherwise calling people out who use it. As a rule, and imho, AI generated content should not be allowed on a platform where creators CREATE. (And I feel the same way about similar sites, like YouTube.) Anyway, sorry for rambling. I appreciate you writing this; very helpful to see the patterns in fake poetry. I'm sure it'll get harder and harder to detect on our own, but I sincerely hope that Vocal employs the use of sites like Copyleaks to vet their top stories, etc.
Thanks for this! Very useful.
Much needed info! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this. AI has become more popular now than ever and it helps to know what we are looking for when trying to differentiate between AI and legitimate work.