Google's new Verse by Verse AI will help you channel classic poets

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What you need to know

  • Google highlighted Verse by Verse, a new AI-powered tool for creating poetry.
  • Verse by Verse has been trained by a large body of classical poetry to the point where it can generate new lines in the style of the greats.
  • You'll be able to imitate a wide range of classic poets from Emily Dickinson to Edgar Allan Poe.

Google today shared Verse by Verse, an experimental AI-powered tool for creating poetry with a twist. Using this tool, you can pen a poem that would imitate the style of classic poets, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar, among others.

Google's Dave Uthis explained:

In order to make this possible, we've trained AI systems that provide suggestions in the style of each individual poet to act as your muses while you compose a poem of your own.After choosing which poets to act as your muses and the structure of your poem, you can begin composing. Once you've written the first line of verse, Verse by Verse will start to suggest possible next verses. We give you full control of this creative process. You can choose to continue writing your own verses, use one of the suggestions, or even edit one of the suggestions to make it more personal.

You won't just be recreating lines already written by one of these poets. Verse by Verse's suggestions will be wholly original, the company says. The AI has been extensively trained by exposure to a large collection of classical poetry to the extent that it can now attempt to predict what these poets would have written if they were the ones currently penning your literary masterpiece.

Google says this experiment is intended to show how much AI can enhance the creative process. Last week, the company shared another tool with the same idea — albeit aimed at 3D artists. You can try out Verse by Verse here.

Michael Allison