People can’t tell the difference between human and AI-generated poetry – new study

Many of those surveyed preferred AI poetry generated in the style of poets like Shakespeare to the real thing. Oleg Nesterov/Shutterstock

Has the bell finally tolled for Shakespeare and Byron? New research conducted by philosophers of science Brian Porter and Edouard Machery suggests that the latest AI-generated poetry is “indistinguishable from human-written poetry” and “rated more favourably”.

Ten poets, from the medieval Geoffrey Chaucer to modern writer Dorothea Lasky, were successfully impersonated by AI chatbots, with most of the 696 participants slightly preferring the imitation to the real thing.