Learn · TED

Talk11 min

Can a computer write poetry?

Oscar Schwartz · TED

Watch At TED

About

If you read a poem and feel moved by it, but then find out it was actually written by a computer, would you feel differently about the experience? Would you think that the computer had expressed itself and been creative, or would you feel like you had fallen for a cheap trick? In this talk, writer Oscar Schwartz examines why we react so strongly to the idea of a computer writing poetry -- and how this reaction helps us understand what it means to be human.

The talk

  1. Can a computer write poetry? 11 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TEDxYouth@Sydney
Speaker
Oscar Schwartz
Year
2015
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Computer science, Literature and writing, Languages and linguistics
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed