ChatGPT isn't Keats & won't reinvent the sonnet like Terrance Hayes…and that's fine

Photo by Alexander Sinn on Unsplash

Speaking of AI’s obvious intelligence (artificial or not), there is growing debate about what this might mean for a lengthening list of occupations (including moi, your humble blogger, journalist and writer).

Apple recently acknowledged the import of AI’s obvious prowess — at sonnets, Shakespearean language, rap etc — when it added audiobook narration to its offerings. Its Books app can now throw up a catalogue of works that are described as being “narrated by digital voice based on a human narrator”.

So, if you’re a professional voice actor, you’re set to join graphic designers and limerick writers on the outer fringes of occupational certainty because algorithms can easily and cheaply replace humans without too great a loss of quality. In fact, some say an algorithm provides improved quality because it remains the same — always. Its inability (or so we humans think), to experience artistic highs and lows means its creations have an even tone. As was …