Basho in the machine

Kyoto, Japan -- Can artificial intelligence write better poetry than humans?

The gap between human creativity and artificial intelligence seems to be narrowing. Previous studies have compared AI-generated versus human-written poems and whether people can distinguish between them.

Now, a study led by Yoshiyuki Ueda at Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human and Society, has shown AI's potential in creating literary art such as haiku -- the shortest poetic form in the world -- rivaling that of humans without human help.

Ueda's team compared AI-generated haiku without human intervention, also known as human out of the loop, or HOTL, with a contrasting method known as human in the loop, or HITL.

The project involved 385 participants, each of whom evaluated 40 haiku poems -- 20 each of HITL and HOTL -- plus 40 composed entirely by professional haiku writers.

"It was interesting that the evaluators found it challenging to distinguish between the haiku penned by humans and those generated by AI," remarks Ueda.

From the results, HITL haiku received the most praise for their poetic qualities, whereas HOTL and human-only verses had similar scores.

"In addition, a phenomenon called algorithm aversion was observed among our evaluators. They were supposed to be unbiased but instead became influenced by a kind of reverse psychology," explains the author.

"In other words, they tended to unconsciously give lower scores to those they felt were AI-generated."

Ueda points out that his research has put a spotlight on algorithm aversion as a new approach to AI art.

"Our results suggest that the ability of AI in the field of haiku creation has taken a leap forward, entering the realm of collaborating with humans to produce more creative works. Realizing the existence of algorithmic aversion will lead people to re-evaluate their appreciation of AI art."

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The paper "Does human–AI collaboration lead to more creative art? Aesthetic evaluation of human-made and AI-generated haiku poetry" appeared on 4 October 2022 in Computers in Human Behavior, with doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107502

About Kyoto University

Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at both undergraduate and graduate levels is complemented by numerous research centers, as well as facilities and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en