Beneath the endless dome where heavens sprawl,
The prairie grass, a tapestry of gold,
Each blade a slender sentinel so tall,
Its rustling whispers stories eons old.
The wind, a gentle hand that strokes the land,
Caresses each prairie blade with care,
It dances through, a free and wandering band,
Leaving its essence lingering in the air.
Amidst Moose Jaw, where legends find their place,
‘Mac the Moose’ stands, a sentinel so grand,
His towering form, a colossal grace,
A landmark true in this enchanting land.
On Main Street, quaint charm fills every nook,
As tales of hidden tunnels gently sway,
Whispered legends from an old, hidden book,
Adding mystique to Moose Jaw’s everyday.
And in the fields by Swift Current’s bounds,
Five moose emerged, their presence bold and true,
Their antlers crowned, like mighty thorny crowns,
A sight to humble, and to awe bestow.
Their strength, a force that towers and commands,
Their gaze, an awe-inspiring, steady hold,
In their presence, the prairie seems to expand,
Nature’s majesty in forms manifold.
So here I sit, amidst this wondrous view,
Where landmarks blend with nature’s vast embrace,
In Moose Jaw’s tales and prairie’s golden hue,
A beauty woven with abundant grace.
I’ve visited Middlebury College and the lovely area a few times, but live now in central Canada. Sadly, both Bard and Claude have a barrier of entry denied to Canada, but I went with ChatGPT, using for the first prompt:
You are a recent Middlebury College graduate now taking time to explore the various landscapes of North America. Traveling across Canada from west to east, you have been impressed by Rocky Mountains in Canada. You’ve expected to be bored by the flat prairie landscape but have been proven wrong. From a stop in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, write to send home a thoughtful poem about the beauty of the wide open skies, the nuances of wild prairie grass, and maybe include a reference to the 5 moose you saw outside of Swift Current.
The first effort was basic, and boring, it read not at all like someone who had taken in a landscape, and it was sadly cliche. The lines were short, so it was more like a middle school assignment.
The next nudge:
That’s a good start, but your poem is a bit generalized, try including more detail about the structure of prairie grass, the feel of wind, the physical attributes of moose (strength, the antlers, how intimidating the are up close). Also, include a few references to landmarks in Moose Jaw for example the giant Mac the Moose statue, the quaintness of Main Street, the references to the legends of the tunnels)
The results are a bit better, but hardly feels like a description of prairie grass from someone who knelt down close to the grass and the descriptions of a moose feel a bit cartoonish. The references to Moose Jaw used the words from my prompt, but show no real understanding of the story of Mac the Moose nor the feel of Main Street.
To push it farther, this was try 3:
You are a highly advanced poet, try some longer lines, and more multisyllabic rhyme words. Also, write more in the style of Willa Cather
This is the poem entered above. It did use more complex rhyme words, but the poetic style is still simple couplets. It only marginally changed the feel, it reads not much like a lived experience or anything that truly captures the feel of the land. And I can’t say that it reads like Willa Cather, ChatCPT decided instead to reference her, rather than write like her.
Image created with DALL-E using as a prompt “A watercolor painting of the Canadian prairie, looking across a field of tall yellow grass toward 3 tall moose under an immense Georgia O’Keefe style sky”
Thanks for sharing your dynamic, Alan. Interesting…and the lab link.
It didn’t occur to me the activity was suggesting we include an AI generate photo…in fact, I didn’ know that was possible. Ha! Shows what a leap this endeavor is for me, and perhaps others who are totally new to AI. Looking forward to learning…
Thanks Betsy. I thought I saw the suggestion in the assignment. It’s most uncharacteristic of me to use AI generated images in posts, I nearly always rely on my own photos or openly licensed ones I can credit a person with. I generally find the AI photos people are using to write with very cartoonish and not pleasing. But they are fun to play with.
I didn’t realize that Bard and Claude were not available in Canada. I thought initially it was a Canadian choice, but it looks more like Google isn’t making the service available in Canada or the European Union yet. I imagine it’s privacy related. I can’t imagine the GDPR complexities involved.
I will say that with you and Dean Shareski in Moose Jaw, the “Amidst Moose Jaw, where legends find their place” line is pretty accurate!
I knew Bard was blocked but I was curious to give Claude a spin but Noooooo, what an AI hoser, eh? Might have to punch up a VPN.
Brilliant work on this site, Tom!