by Kathy Wagenknecht

As I was starting to put together the email for the February AAUW Newsletter, I thought of looking for a suitable poem about February when I had a brainstorm. Why not try out the capabilities of the free-to-use Artificial Intelligence engines available on the internet?

I had aready signed up as a user for three of these “magical” new intelligences, Google’s Bard, Microsoft’s Perplexity, and Open-AI’s ChatGPT. So I devised a task that I would request of each of the three.

The Ask 

Create a poem for February, including Black History, US Presidents Day, Groundhog’s Day, and Banned Books.

Bard

I first asked Bard, and received the following reply:

In February, we reflect on history and change,
Honoring Black leaders, their impact so strange.
Presidents’ Day, a time to recall,
The leaders who heeded the nation’s call.
Groundhog’s Day, a whimsical tradition,
Predicting the weather, a yearly rendition.
But amid this month of remembrance and cheer,
Some books face bans, drawing concern and fear.
Amanda Gorman’s poem, a symbol of hope,
Removed from shelves, a controversial trope.
Challenged alongside Black history tomes,
Amidst debates over race and gender in poems.
As we mark this month, let’s strive to uphold,
The freedom to read, a value untold.
Preserving history, embracing diverse voices,
In February, let’s make inclusive choices.

UNRHYMED

February…
We celebrate the achievements of Black Americans,
Their resilience and strength in the face of hardship,
Their contributions to our nation’s  story,
Woven into the fabric of every day.We honor the presidents who have shaped our country,
From Washington and Lincoln to Obama and beyond,
Their legacies etched in stone and memory,
Guiding us forward on the path of democracy.We watch the groundhog emerge from its burrow,
Seeking a shadow or clear skies,
A harbinger of winter’s grip or spring’s return,
A playful tradition passed down through the years.We remember the banned books,
Voices silenced and stories untold,
But their words echo in the hearts of readers,
Fueling the fires of curiosity and dissent.

February…
A month of reflection and celebration,
Of challenges faced and victories won,
Of shadows retreating and light breaking through,
A time to honor the past and embrace the future.

Let us carry the lessons of February with us,
The lessons of resilience, of courage, of hope,
As we navigate the uncertainties of the year ahead,
May we find strength in our shared humanity,
And write our own stories of justice and freedom.

Perplexity

I then decided to repeat the same two requests of Perplexity:

In February’s cold embrace, we celebrate with grace,
Black history’s profound embrace, a legacy we trace.
US Presidents we commemorate, their impact resonates,
Leaders who shaped the nation’s fate, their stories captivate.
On Groundhog’s Day we wait, for the forecast of fate,
A tradition that’s innate, as we anticipate.
Banned books we contemplate, their voices resonate,
In the face of unjust debate, their stories we elevate.
In this month of reflection, let’s embrace with affection,
The diversity of our collection, each unique connection.
Black history, Presidents Day, Groundhog’s Day in play,
And banned books have their say, in February’s array.

UNRHYMED

February, a month of varied themes,
Groundhog’s Day, a shadow’s fleeting trace,
Black History, a time for noble dreams,
Presidents Day, leaders in their place.
Banned books, their stories still untold,
In this month, their voices we uphold.

ChatGPT

And finally, the same requests from ChatGPT:

In February’s embrace, history unfurls,
As Black voices echo through the world.
Presidents past, their legacies weigh,
While Groundhog’s shadow forecasts the day.

Banned books whisper tales of defiance,
Challenging norms, sparking alliance.
February’s tapestry, rich and vast,
A blend of struggles, present and past.

Through each chapter, we strive to see,
The threads of change, the quest to be free.
In February’s rhythm, we find our way,
Honoring the past, shaping today.

UNRHYMED

In February’s breath, whispers of history linger,
Black voices rise, their stories grown bolder.
US Presidents’ shadows cast across time’s span,
Their legacies debated, by the people’s hand.

Groundhog’s Day marks a moment of prediction,
Yet fate’s course bends with human conviction.
Banned books, silenced tales, defy suppression,
Their words a beacon of truth and expression.

In February’s embrace, a mosaic of days,
Each thread woven into life’s complex maze.
Black History, Presidents, Groundhog’s plight,
Banned books remind: knowledge is our light.

Observations

I found it Interesting that two of the engines used the phrase, “February’s embrace.” I asked Bard about its origins and was told there was no specific origin of the phrase. Perplexity replied that it was often used in poetic expressions but could find no exact origin. And ChatGPT repeated Perplexity’s assertion that it was often used poetically.

Another commonality is that all of the engines wrote in couplets when asked for a generic poem, though Perplexity’s version added an internal rhyme at the midpoint of each line.

When Perplexity was asked for an unrhymed poem, it created a 6-line version with the rhyme-scheme: ABABCC. ChatGPT’s version has the first two lines unrhymed and the others all in rhymed couplets. But when BARD was asked for an unrhymed poem, it created a much more complex result, the one I chose for the Newsletter’s cover email.

I had fun with this exercise. I am certainly not suggesting that the poetry produced by the engines is award-worthy, but playing with them gave me new perspective on their potentialities and was a lot more interesting than Googling for an apt February poem.

—Kathy

Note: if you want to try a free AI Chatbot, you need to create an account for each product.

Chat GPT
https://openai.com/

Bard
https://bard.google.com/

Perplexity 
https://www.perplexity.ai/