I’ve recently started hosting a book group called Shhhh The Secret Book Swap. As well as the swapping of books - wrapped up with only descriptions from the gifter to go by (hence the secret part in the name), I’ve been adding a few other book related elements to the evening. Nothing too onorious or requiring any homework for attendees and all designed for us to share of love and enjoyment of reading.

At our event at the start of this month I included a poem that I had “written”. The quotation marks are here for a very good reason. The first draft of the poem was generated by Ai. I was open about this with the group, explaining that whenever I introduce people to chatgpt or other Ai tool, enevitably they begin to play and create. It’s quite lovely to see, after all, as grown ups we don’t always prioritse creativity or play time in our busy productive lives.

I too had been enjoying creative projects with Ai and whilst it’s very easy to dismiss this as lazy or not really creating anything myself, I know I wouldn’t have sat down to write poetry or a children’s book just myself, nor would my colleague who after being shown chatgpt for the first time announced to the group they’d written a poem about a sausage before I’d even finished explaining what buttons to press.

So for me, if it helps open a door to creativity and creative play and expression, then this aspect of Ai is a winner.

As to the poem I shared at the book swap, I had spotted the recent trend on tiktok of describing different reader archetypes. Building on the idea of Book Worms and introducing Book Bears and Book Dragons. I had a good nosey around to find some others then wrote a prompt for Chatgpt to write a poem about all these creatures, describing each one as well as how I wanted the poem to feel to a reader. After an initial response and a few rewrite requests from me, I took over and edited some lines here and there, changing a few words or playing with the rythym till I found something I was happy with.

I read it to the group that night, explaining how it had all come about. As I read through it I could see a few smiles as people started to spot themselves or others in the different creatures described in the poem.

I’ve copied the full poem below and would love to know what you think and of course which type of reader you are.

Me? I’m absolutely a Book Bear. I build myself a cosy wee den, I’m under blankets and have snacks and hot tea nearby, candles are lit and I’m tucked away from the world as I disappear into my latest book. Nothing better.