People Prefer AI Over Real Classic Poetry
A study published in *Scientific Reports* reveals that readers struggle to distinguish AI-generated poetry from human-written works and often prefer AI-created poems. Researchers Brian Porter and Edouard Machery tested 1,634 participants using poetry by well-known poets (e.g., Shakespeare, Byron, Dickinson) and AI-generated poems mimicking their styles. Participants were more likely to attribute AI poems to humans, with the least “human-like” poems actually written by genuine poets.
In a second experiment involving 696 participants, poems were rated on qualities like beauty, emotion, and originality. Participants who believed poems were AI-generated gave them lower ratings, regardless of actual authorship. However, when authorship was undisclosed, AI poems received more favorable ratings than human-written ones.
The researchers suggest this preference stems from AI poems being more straightforward and accessible compared to complex human-written poetry. This accessibility leads readers to misattribute their ease of interpretation as a marker of human authorship.