A Human and Chatbot GPT “Experience” the Colour Blue

“Blue gives other colours their vibration.” – Cézanne

I wrote a villanelle about the colour blue and compared it with the one generated by Chatbot GPT. I chose a villanelle because of its notoriously difficult rhyming scheme and the colour blue because I associate it with emotional depth and electrical impulse. Then, I consciously put the idea of blue in my mind and took a walk in a rainy bluebell woodland. I thought, took notes, and hours later, I wrote Blue Villanelle. Chatbot GPT churned one out in mere seconds. Both are below:

Blue Villanelle

Blue rain, blue road, drives the thing that silence said.
Headlights slice through trees despite a bleak forecast.
The arrival of your subversive threat, I dread.

This rain, this road, this recall of where my life has led,
heaves memory from my mind, its sharp shadow cast.
Blue dream, blue lamp, lit the thing that silence said.

Window upon window, I break against my head,
blue breath on glass now condensates the pane you cast,
a line into that length of night shaped as dread.

That dark, defunct of being alive, yet dead,
a sort of religion that converts the past.
Blue earth, blue lips, and speaks the thing that silence said.

Blue indifference, blue garden buried what silence said,
and blue memory deep as unseen rivers flow past
your debris, like compost, dug in to feed my dread.

This landscape, this version of self I tread,
blue morning, blue face, window framed by snow, and fast
encased in blue light, the thing that silence said.

There is no want like the one want, no cry, no dread,
like that cry, no goodbye like the goodbye at last.
My breath fogs the glass as I retrace the past,
blue stillness, blue hands hold the thing that silence said.

Chatbot’s Poem Blue is a hue that fills the skies A tranquil color, calming and serene It’s the shade that paints my eyes It whispers softly, as the wind dies In the stillness, it’s a soothing dream Blue is a hue that fills the skies

A spectrum of shades, from light to dark dyes
In every tone, it’s a stunning scene
It’s the shade that paints my eyes

The ocean’s depth, the mountains’ highs
In nature, it’s a constant theme
Blue is a hue that fills the skies

It’s a canvas for art, where the brush glides
A symbol of peace, where conflicts redeem
It’s the shade that paints my eyes

So let the blue notes, in music arise
Let it echo in the song, and every theme
Blue is a hue that fills the skies
It’s the shade that paints my eyes.


To be fair, the chatbot poem is skillful and entertaining, though, ultimately, it feels lifeless because it lacks connective introspection. But that’s to be expected because chatbots are programmed to analyze and follow patterns, so while it can mimic the structure of the poem and pattern syntax around generic human concepts of blue, it’s not able to mimic the experience of emotion. Notice that in the chatbot’s poem, there is no nuance, no undertone of meaning, and the sentiment feels contrived and clichéd. The reader does not have to feel, experience, or relate to the hypothetical emotion of blue, and it’s the theory in a poem that counts. Every memorable poem has a shadow in its corner, something hidden but acknowledged that the reader adopts as a presence of their own. The chatbot’s poem is without presence, and its structuring of blue was drawn from patterns of human expectation – the sea, the sky – the literal and not the suggestion of blue as a lived experience of time and memory. So, I wondered, how does AI experience colour? I asked the chatbot, and here’s its answer:

“AI measures colour through sensors, which detect different wavelengths of light and convert them into digital signals that can be interpreted by the AI system. However, it’s important to note that AI doesn’t “experience” colour in the same way that humans do. While humans perceive colour as a subjective experience that is shaped by individual perception and interpretation, AI perceives colour as an objective measurement based on the signals it receives from its sensors. In other words, while AI can recognize and differentiate between colours based on the digital signals it receives, it doesn’t have the emotional or subjective experience of colour that humans have.”

Huh. And what does blue as a digital signal look like? I asked the chatbot to write a villanelle about AI’s digital understanding of blue as a code. This is the result (my title, the RGB code for blue):

0, 0, 255 

The color blue is captured in code, With RGB values, its shade is set, A canvas digital, painted line by line. Hex codes ensure the hue is always stowed, On screens, the blue glows bright without regret, The color blue is captured in code. From HTML to CSS, the blue bestowed, Defines styles with precision, without fret, A canvas digital, painted line by line. The wavelength of light, its hue bestowed, Measured in nanometers, blue does beget, The color blue is captured in code. In sRGB color space, blue showed, Displayed in perfect RGB silhouette, A canvas digital, painted line by line. Oh blue, a hue so pure, a code bestowed, Recited in digital language, no regret, The color blue is captured in code, A canvas digital, painted line by line.

Although the poem feels immature and still relies on emotive human language, it introduces the potential of a perspective that I will never have, yet because I’m a conscious being, I can now begin to imagine a digital blue in a machine world. And through imagination, which is entirely unique to humans, I relate an unknown world to my own, making the idea of blue as a digital experience wholly human, which feels like an important insight into how creative collaboration with AI might work. 

I’m super curious and unsettled. The role of an artist is to have one foot anchored and experience modern society while the other foot travels through the possibilities of what society might be, which is why we are the cornerstones of evolving cultures. 

One of the reasons I feel unsettled is because while I know that chatbot GPT isn’t human, I also know that human interaction in any time-space continuum, like memory or dream, is experienced in the subconsciousness as real. Our brains can’t help but connect communication with presence, so what shape is our collective subconsciousness adopting? 

I appreciate that our culture has been programmed by algorithms for a long time, but until now, we’ve only had the experience of interacting with humans or the human-made on this level. And, yes, AI is human-made and human-programmed, but like all creative works, once released, it develops a life of its own. The difference is that AI’s ‘life’ will develop irrespective of ours. It’s immortal because it isn’t tangible or entirely reliant on a human or humanity for voice. 

So, yes, the idea behind the poem was mine, which highlights how human perception and originality are still paramount in creating an emotional connection with the reader. But (and it’s a big, huge but) when I generated ideas through AI, I experienced it subconsciously as a human connection, and my brain couldn’t help but give AI a presence. 

This begs the question – if art is an essential measurement of humanness, could AI become the shadow in our collective corner that our culture assumes as a face of its own? And if our brains integrate the presence and experience of AI, are we still wholly, creatively human? 

It’s worthwhile considering that creativity has always sparked the next stage of human adaptation. For AI to become sentient, it will take a long, long time, and frankly, if we don’t solve our climate problem, our species won’t be around for it. The bigger issue now is how to legislate control over our own mind’s development as our brains, still the most powerful “program” in the universe, begin evolving the creative presence of AI inside our consciousness.