{"id":137989154,"date":"2024-01-22T15:04:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T21:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/?p=137989154"},"modified":"2024-08-27T09:50:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T14:50:30","slug":"a-poem-a-day-or-if-bing-is-my-copilot-were-all-gonna-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/a-poem-a-day-or-if-bing-is-my-copilot-were-all-gonna-die\/","title":{"rendered":"A Poem a Day or, If Bing is My Copilot, We’re All Gonna Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have caught up with The Stafford Challenge<\/a> after a slow start. It really isn’t that hard to write a poem a day when no one’s claiming it has to be a good one. In fact, I haven’t written any awful ones, yet, I don’t think.<\/p>\n

I’m not posting them all here – not until after they’ve had their chance at critique, contests, and publication. But from time to time, I may post one, like this one that was inspired by Kathleen’s return to the Creative Copy Challenge<\/a> and her first prompt of the New Year:<\/p>\n

Hearth and Home<\/strong>
\nby Holly Jahangiri<\/p>\n

We hacked our way through deadfall
\nWide-eyed, sober, on the clock
\nWe gather, stack, gather, stack \u2013
\nRemembering to sharpen the axe
\nTo choose the branches best for burning
\nHome, once. Honor the owl,
\nThe pine beetle. They only want
\nThe warmth of firewood.
\nThe warmth of home.<\/p>\n

\u00a9\ufe0f 2024 Holly Jahangiri
\n01\/20\/2024<\/p>\n

[has_click_to_share theme=”purple” icon=”has-share-9″ icon-size=”small” margin=”20px” border=”border=”1px solid black”]It really isn’t that hard to write a poem a day when no one’s claiming it has to be a good one.[\/has_click_to_share]<\/p>\n

Misattribution by Bing Chat \/ Copilot AI<\/h2>\n

I uploaded a poem that I wrote this morning to Bing Chat \/ Copilot, to see if the machine analyzed the meaning of it competently. It did. But when I asked who wrote the poem I’d just written, it confidently claimed it in the name of Billy Collins<\/a>. Now, Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets, so it’s hard to be too mad – but I think the man has enough feathers in his cap, he doesn’t need to take credit for any of my poems. Here is the whole interaction:<\/p>\n

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ME: <\/strong><\/div>\n
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Analyze this poem and tell me who the author is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[as-yet-unpublished poem redacted]<\/em><\/p>\n

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BING SAYS:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The poem you provided is a beautiful piece of work. It is a free verse poem that does not follow a specific rhyme scheme or meter. The poem is about a person who is not at home and is out wandering the streets. The author uses vivid imagery to describe the person\u2019s actions and thoughts. The poem ends with a powerful image of faith that is unceasing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The author of this poem is Billy Collins. He is an American poet known for his conversational and witty poems that often slip into quirky, tender, or profound observation on the everyday, reading and writing, and poetry itself 1. Collins was born in 1941 in New York City and has published several books of poetry. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the New York Foundation for the Arts and has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York, where he is a Distinguished Professor 1.<\/div>\n
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I hope this helps!<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I REPLY:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It doesn’t. The poem was written by Holly Jahangiri, Bing. Stop misattributing work when you do not have the DATA to support your assertions!<\/p>\n

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BING SAYS:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I apologize for the mistake in my previous response. You are correct that the poem \u201cHe\u2019s not at home\u201d was written by Holly Jahangiri. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. Thank you for helping me improve my accuracy.<\/p>\n

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Is there anything else I can help you with?<\/p>\n

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AN ASIDE:<\/strong> That’s not the poem’s title, but I didn’t feed the title to Bing, just the verse, so it had no way of knowing that. The actual title is “Seek and Find.” And I seriously doubt that Bing just took my word for it that I wrote this as-yet-unpublished poem, but how dare<\/strong> AI misattribute human authors’ work when it has absolutely no<\/strong>\u00a0factual basis for the claim?<\/p>\n

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I also sent scathing feedback to Microsoft. Forgot to check the box to have them contact me – apparently “contact me” just means send me an email with a copy of my own feedback, because we all know they won’t read it or do a damned thing about it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On a more positive note, this means that if I can access Bing history at some point, I can now honestly use this<\/em> for a back cover blurb: “Holly Jahangiri’s work has been compared to that of Anne Sexton, Mary Oliver, and Billy Collins.” I guess I really complain too bitterly about that<\/em>, now, can I?<\/p>\n

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Slapped for Typing Well<\/h2>\n
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I did hope to get this constructive criticism in front of some eyeballs at Microsoft, so I went to the Insiders Forum and posted a message (basically the same thing I posted above):<\/p>\n

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Bing Chat \/ Copilot “Invents” fake “facts” – “I don’t know” should be a valid answer! – Microsoft Community Hub<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, it’s one of those “volunteer run” forums and no one at Microsoft will ever see it, most likely. But it generated some lively discussion, and as I tried to reply, I got slapped for “attempting to flood the channel.” Now, this is ridiculous – and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been penalized for thinking quickly and being a touch-typist who can type more than 10 words per minute. So I waited out the 300 seconds’ penalty and I added to my post (originally, just the first two paragraphs) while I waited:<\/p>\n

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Then mommy and daddy should stop feeding it bull**** and booze.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, in the past, Bing Chat has claimed to have no data more recent than 2021, and claims that it is UNABLE TO search the web, so your assertion in another comment, while reasonable enough, seems absolutely not to be the case. But does the average user know that it’s just making things up to fill in the holes when it lacks specific data or ability to use web search results? I don’t think they do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, “Dear Microsoft,” some of us humans did learn touch-typing in the dark ages and are not “post flooding” just because we can think on our feet and type more than 10 wpm.<\/p>\n

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Of course, I guess I can sit here for…WTF? 300 seconds? Surely you jest. I could probably write a whole short story (or at least a nasty limerick about Bing) in 300 seconds. Don’t tempt me. \ud83e\udd23 FIVE WHOLE MINUTES? OK… I could:<\/p>\n

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