Experiment: writing an essay with AI (artificial intelligence)

The experiment

Writing an essay for an English class. Final exam question.

Question 6 (i) — Drama – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (20 marks)

How does Shakespeare represent the emotions arising from human experiences through the features of drama? In your response, make reference to the prescribed text.
Here is the link to the paper: English Standard Paper 1

The essay that AI built:

Shakespeare represents the emotions arising from human experiences through the features of drama by depicting human emotions and experiences through the use of characters, dialogue, and action. In The Merchant of Venice, for example, Shakespeare uses the character of Shylock to represent the emotions of greed and revenge, and the character of Antonio to represent the emotions of love and compassion. Through their interactions and dialogue, Shakespeare allows the audience to experience the emotions of the characters and to understand the human experiences that give rise to them.

Shakespeare uses plot to advance the story and create conflict in the Merchant of Venice in a number of ways. First, he creates a conflict between the two main characters, Antonio and Shylock. Antonio is a Christian, and Shylock is a Jew. This conflict is central to the story, and it is what drives the plot forward. Second, Shakespeare uses plot to create a number of other smaller conflicts. For example, he pits Antonio against Shylock's daughter, Jessica. This conflict creates tension and conflict between the two characters, and it also drives the plot forward. Third, Shakespeare uses plot to create a sense of suspense and tension. He does this by having Antonio put up his pound of flesh as collateral for a loan from Shylock. This puts Antonio in a position of great danger, and it creates a sense of suspense and tension for the audience. Finally, Shakespeare uses plot to create a sense of resolution. He does this by having Antonio and Shylock come to an agreement at the end of the play. This resolution brings the story to a close, and it provides a sense of closure for the audience. A soliloquy is a speech given by a character in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on stage. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare uses soliloquies to allow the audience to hear the thoughts of the characters. For example, in Act 1, Scene 2, Antonio gives a soliloquy in which he reflects on his sadness and how he does not know the cause of it.

"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself."

Shakespeare uses his characters to create relationships and explore themes in the Merchant of Venice through the characters interactions and dialogue with each other. For example, the relationship between Antonio and Shylock is one that is full of hate and prejudice. This is shown when Antonio says to Shylock, "You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, / And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, / And all for use of that which is mine own" (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 111-113). This quote shows how Antonio feels about Shylock, and how Shylock is nothing more than a "cut-throat dog" to him. This relationship is used to explore the theme of prejudice and discrimination.

Shakespeare's language is highly effective in creating meaning and engaging the audience in The Merchant of Venice. In particular, his use of puns and wordplay are key in making the play both entertaining and thought-provoking. For example, in Act III, Scene 1, when Shylock is hatching his plan to "take" Antonio's "pound of flesh," he says: I will have my bond! I will not hear you. I'll have my bond; and you shall be my surety. Seal up your lips, and give no words but mine. This is an example of Shakespeare using language to create multiple levels of meaning. On the surface, Shylock is simply stating his intention to get his money back from Antonio. However, the word "take" can also be interpreted as "kill," which gives Shylock's statement a more sinister meaning. Furthermore, the word "surety" can also mean "security," which foreshadows Antonio's eventual downfall. Shakespeare's use of language is thus highly effective in creating meaning and engaging the audience in The Merchant of Venice.

Shakespeare represents the emotions arising from human experiences through the features of drama by creating characters that undergo emotional turmoil and by using language that is both poetic and emotionally charged. The characters in Shakespeare's plays often go through intense emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, and betrayal, and these emotions are conveyed to the audience through the use of language that is both beautiful and tragic. Shakespeare's plays provide a window into the human soul, and the emotions that arise from human experiences are an important part of what makes us human.

Plagiarism check

I uploaded the essay to turnitin.com to check for plagiarism. It received a plagiarism rating of 20%, though the bulk of the identified plagiarism was for quotes from the play (which I did not exclude from the check). Here is a link to the Plagiarism Report

Of course, once a few of these generated essays are uploaded by various students, turnitin will learn quickly. But with just a little modification by a student with a modicum of literacy ability, who knows?

AI has come a long way

You can see it's getting pretty good! Can you simply enter the question and receive a complete essay? Not yet. Is it ready to fool savvy markers and receive a high mark? Not yet.

The way that the algorithms can create art from plain english prompts is astounding. The way that the algorithms can create short text from a prompt is amazing.

Why did I try this

To see how powerful modern AI is and to give teachers a hint at what they will be up against in the next few years😲 It may be beneficial for teachers to read a few AI-generated essays to get a feel for them.

It would not be hard to automate what I did to make an essay generating service (maybe some exist already). Imagine the capability of these things in the future.

Limitations in 2022

I say in 2022 because these limitations will slowly disappear as time progresses. The resulting essay is not perfect. Lots of paragraphs beginning with 'Shakespeare...' This also has to do with the prompts I used. It is slightly incoherent and lacking a tight coupling between introduction, body, and conclusion. But again, would it be good enough for an unmotivated student to get a pass without having to write a damn thing?

Notes and thoughts

• The essay question was from a final-year school paper that would have been completed on paper in a strictly supervised environment. English Standard HSC in NSW, Australia. I imagine that similar tasks are given to students throughout the year as a take-home task. I am not an English teacher.

• I didn't aim for a huge number of words for the generated essay. More content could easily be added with further prompts and a tiny bit of subject knowledge.

• You can train and fine tune the algorithm. Perhaps by adding CliffNotes and other summaries. I haven't tried this yet. Maybe the algorithm has already been trained on those.

• Using the AI with some human intuition and mild editing could allow a very nice essay to be written, without ever having read the original text.

• Cost. After trying many different prompts and experimenting to get my head around the system, my total cost was about $0.20 for the computing time needed. I could 'write' another essay with 10 minutes and the same cost. On most any topic.

• AI algorithms are trained on the text written by humans and won't be completely original.

• I am no expert when it comes to essays and I'm sure that a better essay could be created today by someone using better prompts and spending a little more time. Without the need to write anything original.

• I tried a bunch of different random prompts to see what I got back. They are in a text file linked here.

Bonus!

The cover image was also created by AI. An image-creation service called Dall-E. There have been posts about it everywhere recently. The prompt used was: a humanoid computer writing an essay with a cyberpunk background. Within seconds, four pictures were pumped out and I chose that one.

Here is another for fun. Created with the prompt: a cute and nerdy cartoon computer writing an essay with a pen, with a synthwave background.


Please share and enjoy your day.