In December 2022, a few weeks after early demos of ChatGPT had been released, I decided to try it.
The question, since I am a witless journalist and not a computer scientist, was how?
Poetry!
I would ask it to write as a poet. Please create a poem to capture the essence of Couch Potato investing. (Sorry, poetic imagination has never been my strong suit.)
The first response was OK. ChatGPT provided a short poem, written in couplets, that summarized the basic idea. It wasn’t brilliant. In fact, it wasn’t good. It was so unmemorable that I can’t remember where, or if, I saved it.
But AI is literally improving by the second, right? And it is supposed to do better with more specific instructions.
So, I raised the ante. I asked for the same poem content in the style of e.e. Cummings.
No progress, still writing couplets.
Surely ChatGPT, with billions invested, could get beyond jingles.
I changed tactics again. I asked for the same poem content in the style of poet Wallace Stevens, remembering his “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”
Then, how about Haiku?
With no apologies, ChatGPT kept producing couplets, whatever poetic style requested.
That, in Internet Time, was centuries ago. Ever since, the hype for AI has soared. It took parts of the stock market with it. At the same time, it caused everyone fear of job loss. AI can do anything.
Only the Roto Rooter repairman is assured future employment.
But then Dave Barry, the Pulitzer Prize winning humor columnist weighed in with a truly shocking message.
AI had declared him dead!
He wasn’t. He’s as funny as ever!
You can read his column, “Death by AI,” about learning he was dead and trying to correct Google AI Overview here.
You’ll have a good laugh – unless you’re expecting AI will make you rich in the very near future.
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “Ending the AI/Internet Invasion,” 2/23/2025: https://scottburns.com/ending-the-ai-internet-invasion/
Scott Burns, “Whatever Happened to Leisure,” 7/12/2019: https://scottburns.com/whatever-happened-to-leisure/
Sources and References:
Wallace Stevens, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45236/thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-blackbird
Dave Barry, “Death by AI,” 7/18/2025: https://substack.com/home/post/p-168417141
This information is distributed for education purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, product, or service.
Photo: pixels-googledeepmind-18069364.jpg
(c) Scott Burns, 2025