In my collaborative poem with the awesome poet Becca Teagan, Debacle (a poem about the Salem Witch Trials), there is a line that I think bears repeating at this moment in time, as AI poetry continues to be a cause for angst and division. I believe it was Becca who came up with this closing line to the poem, "The moral's here for all to see/ 'twas not about mere happenstance, but in the mob's mentality/misguided zeal breeds ignorance."
There is an inherent danger in obsessively seeking out that which we perceive as a threat to our comfort zone, or in creating pariahs of those who are different, those we feel are guilty of some transgression or other and yes, those who may have an opinion other than our own. That danger is this: innocent people are bound to get hurt, just as surely as many innocents perished in Salem. Why can that be said?
Consider these stated facts:
1. Admins have admitted that it is virtually impossible for them to determine AI from real poetry.
2. Admins as well as others (including those heatedly against AI poetry) have acknowledged that AI checkers are unreliable.
Still, despite these admissions, some have suggested taking it upon themselves to be the self-appointed guardians against the intrusion of AI poetry on Poetry Soup. If AI checkers, which have been developed by folks who actually know what they are doing, are unreliable, how much moreso will the untrained and possibly uneducated eye be?
That having been said, if this movement is permitted to continue, Poetry Soup will become a site filled with paranoia and accusations, marginalizations and ostracizings of poets suspected of using AI whether the accusations are factually true or not. Is this really what we want Poetry Soup to become? A place where every one who posts is under suspicion and no one can enter a contest without worry of being scrutinized and possibly accused (sub rosa accusations may get past admins, but may cause just as much damage)?
I made this point in one of my previous comments and I will restate it here. AI is here to stay and will only get more prolific (in various aspects of technology) and better. Fighting against it is like taking on the wind. You just can't win. What you can do is is focus on yourself, your own integrity, your own poetry. This in itself is a tacit way to combat AI. Being true to yourself is really all that matters.
In summary, I want to refer to what a recent poet said on the matter, ie, that we are a community of poets. Yes, there will always be things we don't like about PS, or about certain ones who rub us the wrong way. But a community sticks together. Paranoia and a mob mentality are sure to divide and yet, even as I write this, I know some will still drive forward with their movement to stamp out all they perceive as evil. I truly hope it doesn't happen. We can dislike AI poetry (for the record, I do NOT like AI poetry), but that shouldn't lead us to hate and distrust each other.
Tommy
ps. Why no comments allowed? Enough debate on this subject has already taken place. This blog is not that. It's simply an appeal to reason and balance. If anyone feels the need to sound off, you can always soupmail me.