Conflicted Copy

Sam Riviere uses Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2 (GPT-2) to produce poems that explore the uncertainties, fears, and desires of a human world. His machine language is clunky and magical, unplugging and rebooting our perceptual apparatus as we look over the shoulder of machines clumsily figuring us out.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 56 pages
Publication date: 06 June 2024
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Sam Riviere is a master of taking and exploiting found content and process, transforming it into poetry that captivates and unsettles. In this case, he harnesses anxiety about AI to exploit it for his own extraordinary ends. Generative Pre-trained Transformer 2 (GPT-2), an open source neural network, is used to produce poems that, stripped of the usual authorial clutter, find themselves cohering around a voice that speaks of the uncertainties, fears, and desires of a world that is desperately, poignantly, and recognizably human. Riviere's machine language, often delightfully clunky, also has its magical aspects, unplugging and rebooting our perceptual apparatus as we look over the shoulder of machines clumsily figuring us out. In turning poetry towards machine language, Riviere quietly kicks off a poetic revolution for our time.

Weight: 80g
Dimension: 195 x 130 x 5 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780571380985
Edition number: Main