I want to try using AI to repair Sappho fragments.
If you read last week’s post, I first talked about using AI to recreate the art form of oral composition. In this week’s post, I want to think further about how we can use AI technology in our field.
Using the same technology from last week’s post, beta.openai.com, it stands to reason that if you can rewrite something using input data set, you can also write in data.
Why use Sappho to test this theory?
Sappho is one of the few extant female poets from Ancient Greece. She was so prolific a writer that she was often considered “the Tenth Muse.”
Her poetry comes from the island of Lesbos, in the late 7th century BCE. Her birthplace, Lesbos, is where we get the modern-day name for female same-sex attraction, lesbian.
Sappho didn’t write epic poetry like the famed Iliad and Odyssey of the past. She wrote lyric poetry, which was poetry accompanied by a lyre.
Sappho’s poetry is so old that much of it hasn’t survived today. Archaeologists find papyri, or paper made of reeds, with her poetry. The Library of Alexandria or other Athenians who loved her poetry made those papyri and made copies of them.
Papyrus decomposes because it is made of organic matter. Certain conditions are necessary to preserve papyrus, making it even rarer to find the fragments. When fragments of Sappho are found, they can be heavily damaged.
Sappho’s fragmented works
We only have one poem in its entirety from Sappho’s prolific works, Sappho 1, the ode to Aphrodite. The rest of the poems have chunks missing. Some poems have only one word preserved.
We can use AI to try to repair these fragments.
I chatted with my friend, Alex Moore, who is completing his Ph.D. in Machine Learning. He walked me through a simplified process of training AI to complete the task of ‘completion,’ matching the context I provided.
After a couple of tries with the AI bot…
Input:
Below are the instructions that I gave the bot. I copied and pasted the first 11 lines of Sappho fragment 5. These English translations are from Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. When there was a fragment, I typed the variable [insert].
O divine sea-daughters of Nereus, let
my brother return here unharmed
and let whatever his heart desires
be fulfilled.
And may he undo all past mistakes
and so become a joy to friends,
a sorrow to enemies – may
none ever trouble us.
And may he wish to give his sister
more honor; from cruel sorrow
[insert] in the past suffering
Output:
Below is what the bot created with the input above.
O divine sea-daughters of Nereus, let my brother return here unharmed and let whatever his heart desires be fulfilled. And may he undo all past mistakes and so become a joy to friends, a sorrow to enemies – may none ever trouble us. And may he wish to give his sister more honor; from cruel sorrow [may he free her. And may all be as it should be between us two, as it was] in the past suffering The bolded portion is what the AI came up with.
Or you could even create a Lizzo verse with the plot of Sappho 1.
Input:
Compose a Lizzo rap about On the throne of many hues, Immortal Aphrodite, child of Zeus, weaving wiles: I beg you, do not break my spirit, O Queen, with pain or sorrow but come – if ever before from far away you heard my voice and listened, and leaving your father’s golden home you came, your chariot yoked with lovely sparrows drawing you quickly over the dark earth in a whirling cloud of wings down the sky through midair, suddenly here. Blessed One, with a smile on your deathless face, you ask what have I suffered again and why do I call again and what in my wild heart do I most wish would happen: “Once again who must I persuade to turn back to your love? Sappho, who wrongs you? If now she flees, soon she’ll chase. If rejecting gifts, then she’ll give. If not loving, soon she’ll love even against her will.” Come to me now – release me from these troubles, everything my heart longs to have fulfilled, fulfill, and you be my ally.
Output:
Below is what the bot created with the input above.
I been strugglin' and hustlin' tryna make it to the top I know I got what it takes but it seems like it's not enough I pour my heart out on these tracks but nobody ever hears it I'm shoutin' out, I need a sign that you feel me, Aphrodite You know what I need, you know what I want I need that love, I want that touch I ain't asking for much I just need your love I know you can give it to me I know you can make it all better just come and save me, Aphrodite I been working so hard, trying to get ahead but it all seems for naught I know I can make it, I know I got what it takes but I can't do it alone, I need your help I'm shoutin' out, I need a sign that you feel me, Aphrodite You know what I need, you know what I want I need that love, I want that touch I ain't asking for much I just need your love I know you can give it to me I know you can make it
Make your own AI Sappho poem.
Since the task is pretty basic, you can use beta.openai.com to do most of the heavy lifting.
Follow the steps below to repair your own AI Sappho fragment, and share them with me on Twitter @maialeechin!
- On the right side of the website, change the mode to ‘Insert (beta)’
- Give the interface some text to work with. If you want to work with a specific translation, copy and paste it into the box. Remember that you can only use one [insert] variable at a time.
- Press submit and share what the bot comes up with!