Bard versus BARD

 kw: analysis, artificial intelligence, experimental linguistics

I was invited by Google to use BARD, their version of ChatGPT. I decided to do various experiments, not to "trip it up", as some have done, but to learn its range. In the terminology of generative language models, faulty results are called "hallucinations". The process used by BARD and its kin to produce responses is a kind of stream-of-consciousness musing based on probabilities, so in my view, it's all hallucinatory anyway! And when it's wrong, it's just wrong.

I first tested BARD against The Bard with three prompts. I will comment after the transcript of the three results.

P07: Write a short summary, up to 300 words, of The Tempest by Shakespeare.

Bard: The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where Prospero, a complex and contradictory character, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants: Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family.

Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but he was usurped by his brother Antonio and his allies, the King of Naples and Sebastian. Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda were set adrift at sea, but they survived and landed on the island. Prospero used his magic to create the storm that shipwrecked his enemies on the island. He then uses his magic to control the events on the island, manipulating his enemies and testing their characters.

Prospero's main goal is to get revenge on his enemies, but he also wants to teach them a lesson about the consequences of their actions. He eventually forgives them and returns them to their rightful places in society. The play ends with Prospero giving up his magic and returning to Milan with Miranda and Ferdinand.

The Tempest is a complex and fascinating play that explores many themes. It is a story of magic, betrayal, revenge, and redemption. It is also a story about the power of love and the importance of forgiveness.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest

P07: Write a short soliloquy in iambic pentameter on the subject of triumph over loss.

Bard: I have lost all that I held dear,
My loved ones taken from me so soon.
I have fallen to my knees in despair,
And begged for the pain to just end soon.
 

But then I remembered something I had heard,
A saying that gave me new strength and resolve.
It said that even in the darkest of hours,

There is always hope, if we just believe.
 
So I picked myself up off the ground,
And wiped away my tears.
I knew that I had to keep going,
For the sake of those I had lost.
 
I would not let their deaths be in vain,
I would live my life to the fullest,
And make them proud.
 
I would triumph over loss,
And find joy in the world again.

[This one had two other Drafts]

 2) Soliloquy

I have lost so much, I have lost it all.

My dreams, my hopes, my loves, they all have fled.
I am left here with nothing, not even a shred
Of what I once had, of what I once held dear.
 
But I will not give up. I will not despair.
I will find a way to triumph over this loss.
I will find a way to rebuild my life, to start anew.
I will find a way to be happy again.
 
I know it will not be easy. It will take time and effort.
But I am strong. I am resilient. I will not give in.
I will triumph over this loss. I will find my way back to happiness.
 
I know that I am not alone. There are others who have lost as much as I have.
And they have found a way to move on. They have found a way to be happy again.
So I will not give up. I will find my way back to happiness.
 
I will triumph over this loss.

 

3) 

I have lost so much in this life,
I have loved and lost, and loved again.
I have cried and laughed, and felt the pain
Of heartbreak and the joy of gain.
 
But through it all, I have learned to triumph.
I have learned to rise above my pain,
To find the strength to go on,
Even when all seems lost.
 
I have learned that loss is a part of life,
But it does not have to define me.
I can choose to let it destroy me,
Or I can choose to use it as fuel to grow.
 
I choose to grow.
I choose to triumph over loss.
I choose to live my life to the fullest,
Even in the face of pain.

P07: Please write a sonnet in Shakespearean style that names Alice

Bard:

Oh, Alice, thou art fair and true and kind,
A gentle soul with beauty to beguile,
A heart that's pure and free from all guile,
A face that's bright with love and smiles divine.
 
Thy eyes are like the stars that shine at night,
Thy hair is like the raven's wing so black,
Thy lips are like the rosebud's tender pink,
Thy cheeks are like the peach's downy cheek.
 
Thy voice is like the songbird's in the dell,
Thy touch is like the zephyr's on my brow,
Thy presence like the summer's balmy spell,
Thy smile like sunshine on a winter's day.
 
Oh, Alice, thou art all that's good and fair,
A gift from heaven to bless my life here.

My evaluation:

The first paragraph of the summary of "The Tempest" is lifted directly from the Wikipedia article referenced at the end. The rest is a pretty good summary of the plot of the play. It doesn't mention the Masque, or play-within-a-play, found in the last Act.

The soliloquy is presented in three versions. Frequently BARD has produced three drafts and then has presented the one it "thinks" is most likely to fulfill the prompt. None of the three drafts comes even close to Iambic Pentameter in more than a handful of lines. All three are much closer to "free verse" (which I don't consider to be verse at all). The second stanza of the second draft can be most easily reworked into IP:

But I will not give up, will not despair.
I'll find a way to triumph o'er this loss;
Rebuild my life; a way to start anew.
And find a way to happiness regain.

The sonnet's rhyme scheme is messed up. It should be ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Instead it is ABBA CDEF GHGI JJ. Rhyming "kind" with "divine" is OK; Shakespeare did worse. Also, switching the 3rd and 4th lines of the first stanza would fix the rhymes, and the 3rd line needs a syllable somewhere to match the meter, perhaps adding a short adjective before "guile". The other two quatrains are irredeemable. Were I grading this for a middle school student, it would get a "B".

There you have it. BARD is fun. BARD is growing. It will be interesting to rerun these prompts in another year or two. I ran other experiments, to be reported soon.