Monday, January 09, 2006

robot rhymes

As part of my larger study on robots, I have been trying to synthesize some humanistic and scientific approaches to robots. A promising route to this end is what I am calling 'Robot Rhyming'. The idea is pretty simple. Basically, from a catalog of words that rhyme with different robot parts or aspects (and also with the actual word 'robot'), people can make full-on poems, or just simple rhymes. I believe the technology is even there to run some of these words into a computer function, and the computer could turn out rhymes, or even poems*. Here are some of the rhymes I have for robots and robot parts:

robot: crow--bot! slow-bot, blowbot, glowbot, Pol-Pot.
circuit: jerk-kit, work it! biscuit(?)
switch: (this one was pretty easy) witch, ditch, pitch, quidd'ch.
wires: (this one was also pretty easy) tires, fires, Shire(s), Dreyers.
Android: (this one was surprisingly difficult, but in the end, I'm pretty pleased) Band-roid, Slandroid, Jandroid, GuLandroid

Well this is a sample. I hesitate to offer the complete Robot Rhyming works! 2006 at this stage for a variety of reasons. Also, I'm not sure what will be made from this effort. Off hand, I can imagine a lot of poems and rhymes could be constructed (i.e. people can be creative and use their imaginations with these tools), but who knows where this technology--or, more specifically, these robot rhymes--could lead in the future? You certainly don't. I invite you to make robot poems or rhymes; they could be of a variety of structures: couplet, sonnet, limerick, pentameters (iambic or doric), decameters, haiku, verse, prose, limerick, or anthology. As I have found, this is an excellent outlet for creativity about robots and it can help to think more constructively about robots and the future.






*so for example, I would upload the rhyming words for 'switch' (i.e. witch, ditch, etc.) (after naming those words 'switch rhyme' list, then if you wanted to make a rhyme or a poem, you would submit the word 'switch' and there would be a function that would then spit out the rhyming words. Something like: if 'switch' inserted here, then do random spit out of one of the words from uploaded 'switch rhyme' list.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:26 AM

    Steal this from Radiohead: Paranoid android.

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  2. Wasn't the whole Wrath of Khan about the Enterprise having a computer that could rhyme when all his could do was make a bunch of lights blink and read ballot cards and tell you how much you weigh?

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  3. I was just about to write some robot poetry (because I love this idea) but then my robot was all, "Will you please scratch my back?" So I gotta go.

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  4. Ben, I've met TWO ROBOTS this past year, and I really could have used this blog to prepare me. Thanks for nothing.

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  5. Just to clarify--I think the technology is there to do the computer function I was talking about, but it would definitely have to be tested.

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  6. Could the rhyming involve other words or only the words you have listed? For example, just since you posted on Monday, I came up with "pacifiers" as a rhyme for "wires." I'm not saying I could come up with more, or that anyone could, but it might be possible.

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  7. Work it! Your circuit!
    Work it! Circuit!
    Work! Circ!
    Work it!
    Work it!
    Circuit!

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  8. Here are some robot palindromes I've been working on also:

    I am a robot to boram A.I.

    My circuit is loose es ools it I, U cricym!

    A robot is loyallay ol sitobora!

    A man a plan a roboto cotoboran Al, Panama

    Able was I circuit ere tiuc Ric I saw Elba.

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  9. Anonymous1:07 AM

    I'm no small wonder buff but i seem to recall Vicky singing and/or "rapping" on an episode or two, so a lot of this work might already be done for you.

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  10. J.R.

    "I'm no small wonder buff." Right! And I'm just big boned.

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  11. In my excitement over this new genre, I earlier rushed out my latest work. Please disregard that one, and consider this one my final work.

    Work it. Your circuit.
    Work it. Circuit.
    Work. Circ.
    Work it.
    Work it.
    Circuit!

    ReplyDelete