Comment by pdpi
14 hours ago
Replace "their day" with any other topic. The important part of the statement is that most people would find it hard to write poetry in any given specific form (be it a haiku, limerick, or sonnet in iambic pentameter), because knowledge of those forms isn't particularly common, and most people haven't read copious amounts of poetry written in those forms.
I like the idea that if you simply replace “having an experience and translating it into words” with “remember 5-7-5” as a measure of intelligence then poetry is an example of chat bots being smarter. Similarly, “my toaster’s ability to toast bread makes it more powerful than any human on earth” is a true statement given a reasonable interpretation of the word “power”.
Sure :)
Though I'd argue that the metaphor only works insofar as we believe that toasting bread is something are uniquely qualified to do, just like the original statement assumes that poetry is a uniquely human skill. (Though I do agree that the ability for subjective experience is an essential component of consciousness. I'll be buggered if I know how to define that, though)