Abstract
This debut poetry collection is a groundbreaking attempt to explore the creative potentialities of language with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) – a first in Afrikaans, as well as in South Africa.
The poems in this volume were composed co-creatively: a human in collaboration with a machine. The poet delicately interweaves phrases of AI-generated text to create verse, as part of an experiment that examines the following timely question: How might this technology augment and challenge the art of poetry? In poems on AI, Africa, Cape Town and the Karoo, waves glisten, air burns and a machine dances on the outskirts of language.
Imke van Heerden and Anil Bas lead a research project titled AI as Author in Istanbul. In 2020, they developed a generative language model called AfriKI – an abbreviation for Afrikaans Artificial Intelligence. To learn Afrikaans, the model read, as dataset, Etienne van Heerden's novel Die biblioteek aan die einde van die wêreld [A Library to Flee]. AfriKI was used as an instrument to help create the first AI poems in Afrikaans.
The poems in this volume were composed co-creatively: a human in collaboration with a machine. The poet delicately interweaves phrases of AI-generated text to create verse, as part of an experiment that examines the following timely question: How might this technology augment and challenge the art of poetry? In poems on AI, Africa, Cape Town and the Karoo, waves glisten, air burns and a machine dances on the outskirts of language.
Imke van Heerden and Anil Bas lead a research project titled AI as Author in Istanbul. In 2020, they developed a generative language model called AfriKI – an abbreviation for Afrikaans Artificial Intelligence. To learn Afrikaans, the model read, as dataset, Etienne van Heerden's novel Die biblioteek aan die einde van die wêreld [A Library to Flee]. AfriKI was used as an instrument to help create the first AI poems in Afrikaans.
| Translated title of the contribution | Silverwhite into the Distance: Afrikaans' First AI Poetry |
|---|---|
| Original language | Other |
| Place of Publication | De Kelders, South Africa |
| Publisher | Naledi |
| Number of pages | 85 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781776172788, 1776172787 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2023 |
Keywords
- poetry
- literature
- generative AI
- artificial intelligence
- co-creativity
- Afrikaans
- South Africa