Program Overview

Program Overview

The Robot, Found: The Collaborative Human-Machine Poetry Writing Project is a year-long research project that explores the intersection of computer science and the humanities. The project involves developing new techniques for computational poetry generation and using those techniques to produce text fragments for found poetry generation.

Project Description

The project is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the student will explore existing frameworks for computational poetry generation and extend one of those frameworks to generate text in a way that is novelly sensitive to some socio-cultural factor. In the second phase, the student will leverage their techniques to create a set of found poems, culminating in a unique performance at the 2020 High Grade literary journal release.

Interdisciplinary Nature

This project is highly interdisciplinary, combining computer science and the humanities. The project will involve both technical and artistic components, making it a unique opportunity for students to explore the intersection of these two fields.

Student Qualifications

The student should have taken Probability and Statistics and have experience with poetry writing. The student would benefit from having taken or co-registered in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or Human-Robot Interaction.

Time Commitment

The student is expected to commit 20-40 hours per month to the project.

Skills and Techniques Gained

The student will gain experience with new computer science skills in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, as well as new poetry-writing skills in Found Poetry creation.

Mentoring Plan

The student will meet on a regular basis with Tom Williams and/or Toni Lefton and will be invited to MIRRORLab meetings to engage with students working on other aspects of language generation.

Research Areas

The project involves research in the following areas:

• Computational poetry generation
• Natural Language Processing
• Machine Learning
• Human-Robot Interaction
• Found Poetry creation

Institution

The project is affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines, located at 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401.