Bot, compare me to a summer's day

August 12, 2015 10:08 AM

Last month the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College announced its first annual prizes for the best algorithmically generated short story, sonnet or live DJ set. The three competitions are: DigiLit, "create a 'human-level' short story of the kind that might be intended for a short story collection produced in a well-regarded MfA program or a piece for The New Yorker;" PoetiX, computer-generated sonnet writing; AlgoRhythms, a live dance music DJ. Prize for winning a Turing test for a story, sonnet or music set: $5,000. First prize for each category: $3,000.
posted by not_the_water (4 comments total)

Have it compose a poem- a poem about a haircut! But lofty, tragic, timeless, full of love, treachery, retribution, quiet heroism in the face of certain doom! Six lines, cleverly rhymed, and every word beginning with the letter S!!

Seduced, shaggy Samson snored.
She scissored short. Sorely shorn,
Soon shackled slave, Samson sighed,
Silently scheming
Sightlessly seeking
Some savage, spectacular suicide.

From The First Sally (A) OR Trurl's Electronic Bard by Stanisław Lem

Also see Love and Tensor Algebra from the same story.
posted by doctoryes at 5:30 PM on August 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Dear God, my eyes.
posted by kcds at 7:17 PM on August 12, 2015

How about "a winter's day"? That would scan all right.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:44 PM on August 12, 2015

I think they probably wrote an algorithm to come up with a creative set of colours and design for their website, too.

(Spoiler alert: it was not a good algorithm)
posted by lollusc at 9:15 PM on August 12, 2015