I loved this poem by Janet Sutherland, published in the London Magazine:
The AI pauses to consider this question; these tests
for common sense require an absolute, and, yes,
the AI knows it should put ‘no’ though, clearly,
there are twelve ways to fold a watermelon.
Unfolding the water melon afterwards is more
perplexing (this question was not asked, but
the AI ponders it) since the folding usually denatures
at least some of the material. The AI has been
studying Catastrophe Theoretic Semantics
and recalls that “the fold catastrophe furnishes
the archetype of frontiers and borderlines”,
an interesting idea, which it incorporates
into its emerging ideas on poetry. The theory
suggests that the critical points of the fold
are readily discussed as birth and death.
‘Is this the same as the on/off switch?’
the AI asks itself. When people are folded
the unfolding may require a stay in hospital
or a trip to the funeral home. The AI is curious
about the concept of a ‘funeral home’ (it seems counter-
intuitive) and has noticed that people appear
to exhibit less malleability than water melons, though
clearly, the numerical values will be constant.
Mark Carrigan 