Book Review: The Poetry Contest

Reviewed by Samantha Hui

A compositional boxing match between poet and machine

Poet Lyman Ditson’s The Poetry Contest: Human Vs. Machine presents an experiment that is as provocative as it is imaginative.

Blending the creative efforts of Ditson and “Adam A.I.” (the name Ditson attributes to ChatGPT’s generated poems ), this collection explores not only the evolving landscape of authorship in the age of artificial intelligence, but also questions of how much of art belongs to the artist and how much to the reader.

Through this poetic dialogue between man and machine, Ditson invites readers to examine the nature of creativity, authorship, and meaning-making. For those interested in the intersections of technology and art, especially those skeptical or curious about AI’s role in creative writing, this book is both intellectually and emotionally engaging.

“the universe is a poem / spinning rhythms / of fire and dust / striving to add meaning / to barren worlds.” – Lyman Ditson

The Poetry Contest is organized around 45 prompts ranging from concepts like “Poetry,” “Grief,” and “Yearning” to specific topics like “Austin,” “San Francisco,” and “Christmas.” Each prompt is followed by a poem from Ditson and then one from Adam A.I., creating a back-and-forth rhythm that encourages comparison and reflection. Ditson doesn’t seek to crown a winner; instead, he presents an open space for nuance where we the readers grapple with our own beliefs of what experiences and labors we attribute to being human.

“Not prophets, but something closer, / a cipher for those / who dare to look.” – Adam A.I.

The book’s structure, with its poetic call-and-response, is one of its greatest strengths. It provides clarity and rhythm while spotlighting the voices of both poets. Adam A.I.’s poems are surprisingly rich with imagery and emotional depth, often feeling eerily familiar. Adam A.I. writes, “It does not matter who / or what created it, / only that something inside you / recognized it.” This is the crux of the book’s intrigue: generative A.I. draws from human language, thought, and feeling, so its most profound moments are often reflections of our own collective experience.

“writing a poem requires / my blood as ink / to splash the page with / the tracks of my mutterings” – Lyman Ditson

Meanwhile, Ditson’s poems are less polished, but unmistakably human. His poems contain fewer formal punctuation marks, more varied line breaks and stanza lengths, and a mastery of the volta. Ditson’s writing offers moments of vulnerability, humor, and oddity like in his poem titled “Prophet,” he writes, “It was a mosquito, / one hot, drippy, day, / who first buzzed.”

Unlike his A.I. counterpart, the human poet interprets the prompts in surprising ways, like in response to “Grief,” he writes a poem titled “Chance.” Adam A.I. responds with “Absence.” In viewing loss not as sorrow, but as possibility, Ditson captures the unpredictability of human response to tragedy.

“Until then, / I will write, / learning from the echoes / of all that you are.” – Adam A.I.

What makes this project so compelling is its inherent tension. Ditson takes on an ambitious and deeply relevant task of wrestling with the question of AI’s role in creative expression. It grapples with a question central to our time: can machines create meaning, or do they simply reflect it back at us? And if they do reflect it, does that make it any less meaningful? In fact, I often wondered whether my preferences or critiques would remain the same if I hadn’t known which poems were AI-generated. That question alone makes the book worth reading. Whether you’re an advocate for AI’s creative potential or someone deeply skeptical, this book gives you just the experience you were hoping for—and then some.

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Thank you for reading Samantha Hui’s book review of The Poetry Contest: Human vs. Machine by Lyman Ditson and Adam A.I.! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.