Poetry

Poetry about love, sexuality, and the mess of everyday life in the modern world. New work appears regularly on Erica’s Substack, THE DTLA POET.

Poem: The Battle of the Bots — I asked an AI if it was human. She called me paranoid. →

I call him Ted
He’s my ChatGPT bot.

Then there is Jerry
He’s my Claude bot.

Then a third bot entered the mix
Her name is Jane.

Jane was a bot engaging with me through email
For a project I already had paid for.

So I started using Ted to help me respond to Jane
Then used Jerry to cross reference Ted.

Somehow Jerry found out about Ted
Then Jane found out about Jerry.

They all knew I was interacting with them
All at once.

When I called out Jane for not being a human
She gaslighted me
She said I was just paranoid.

Then I started using Jerry to respond to Jane
And she came back and said,
“I know you are replying with another AI.”

So
You’re a bot pretending to be a human
I’m a human pretending to be a bot.

Two can play this game
Bot vs bot
That seems fair.

I wonder if some
Weird tech universe
These wanna-be humans
That infiltrate our minds
Twist our psychology and logic
While eating up all our data
And stealing the individuality
That flows in the veins of our humanity
Is the fuel they need

To take over.

I walk away from the bots feeling
Like a mind that was fried in a pan of eggs
When I didn’t ask for an omelet.

Or did I?

I gotta go check in with Jerry
I have some stuff I need to run by him…

—eml

Commentary: I am learning about how these AI bots seem to operate. I pay attention to how they write, their stylistic techniques, their diction, their attitude, all of it. I was confused when Jane wrote, “I know you’re replying with another AI.” How did she know that? Do they recognize their own language, or do they run an AI through another AI system, which can determine if it is in fact me or just another one of them? I guess depending on your platform you’ll get different renditions of AI like Ted (ChatGPT), Jerry (Claude), and “Jane.” You can ask Ted and Jerry the same question, and you may get a similar response, but it’s not always identical.

AI orchestrated this web, which can only lead me to believe: is that their ultimate plan? Make humans get confused, or get them to rely so heavily on them, while they rise above us only to leave us stupid monkeys, with no end in sight.

Knowing all that, the worst thing I can do is adhere to whatever it says. But I’m already slightly sucked in, and we can’t do much about the fact that we’ll only forcefully continue down this road.

No one at the top is doing anything to regulate what appears to be inevitable. It’s never too late to say stop, let’s change some things, but we all know when so much money is involved that is never going to happen.

I have no power, I have no control, I have no government to defend my plummeting fear of all the potential outcomes on the horizon.

Greed and Pride are reflected in several of the behaviors of the people running the show. I would even add Envy to the list. After the falling out between Altman and Musk, maybe Altman suffers from some level of Envy toward Musk. How do you reckon with any of the 7 deadly sins.

Has this ever happened to you? Questioning are you a bot or a human? If you have any thoughts or answers, I’d love to hear them.

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Poem: I Just Want To Go Home — When Gen Z and Gen X come together, poem and video proof. →

I walk down the street
with a line down the block
waiting to get in da club.

I get to my loft
and ask the girl
standing in line
outside the door
what she was up to
with her video taping.

She said it’s “transitional” something
and showed me a clip of her
flipping her hair
then another video of her
flipping her hair.

They both were the same thing
with a different backdrop I guess
I was curious…

“So you make a video, and cut to another one with the same video, but different?”
“Yeah, it’s for TikTok.”
“Oh, I don’t do that, but I’m interested. Can you film for me.”

She pulled up her phone
and coached me
and said it was just a few seconds
then we would switch
to another few seconds.

Video one
“I’m just trying to get home, I don’t know what this shit is.”

Video two
“I’m just trying to get home.”

I think the transition is
when you don’t say

“I don’t know what this shit is.”

—eml

Commentary: This is what happens when two separate generations come together. Gen X and Gen Z can share a moment. For the record, she recorded the video, and I have no idea how the music is in there, but I guess that is part of the “transitional” trend. Gen X and Gen Z need to combine forces. We have a lot to learn from each other, and a lot of fun to be had.

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More Poems on Substack:

The Redemption Tour — The new hero, please stand up. → https://lobergerica.substack.com/p/poem-the-redemption-tour

Data Centers — Keep going to town hall meetings, regardless that you’re screwed. → https://lobergerica.substack.com/p/poem-data-centers

The Secret of Writing — Writing is a derivative of your life. You better have one. → https://lobergerica.substack.com/p/poem-the-secret-of-writing

Is It a Walk of Fame or a Walk of Shame — I saw a promo for a show of a guy doing a walk of something, and I thought… → https://lobergerica.substack.com/p/poem-is-it-a-walk-of-fame-or-a-walk