By Cansu Waldron

Nick Abramo is a veteran journalist with over forty years of experience in the field, who recently turned his curiosity toward a new creative outlet: poetry. His foray into AI-assisted writing began as a lighthearted experiment (asking ChatGPT to generate a sports article) but quickly evolved into a deeper exploration of how technology and creativity can intersect. What started as a test of AI’s capabilities soon became a unique hybrid process: Nick provides the ideas, themes, and direction, while AI drafts the initial form — which he then heavily edits, shaping it into something distinctly his own.

Through this collaboration, Nick has created a growing body of work, with a dozen poems that blend wit, social commentary, and reflection. His pieces explore politics, social media, time, and the absurd contradictions of modern life — from the ironies of global diplomacy to the illusion of online connection. For him, AI-assisted poetry isn’t about replacing the human voice, but amplifying it — using technology as a lens to examine the humor, chaos, and sincerity of the world we live in.

We asked Nick about his work, creative process, and inspirations.

You’ve spent more than four decades in journalism — what first inspired you to explore poetry, and particularly AI-assisted poetry?

My first encounter with AI-assisted writing two years ago was an experiment. For fun, I asked Chat GPT to write an article on a specific subject about the Boston Bruins, a team I was covering at the time. What it spit out — 5 SECONDS LATER — was comprehensive and almost exactly what I asked for. I was highly impressed, but concerned because it had some blatant factual errors.

Just two years later, I asked AI to write song lyrics about teenage antics and adventures that my friend and I experienced in the 1970s. The forthcoming composition, based on less than 500 words of input and which I saw in less than 5 seconds, was FAR BETTER than anything I could have done. When I sent it to my friend, who is quite particular about songwriting quality, he was also highly impressed.

Within the past few months, I have produced 12 poems -- written by Chat GPT based on my input and then heavily edited by me.

What kinds of themes or emotions are you most drawn to exploring through this hybrid writing process?

In most of my 12 poems, politics, social media, current events, and the absurdity of the fast-paced world we live in are blended.

Also, one poem explores my thoughts on the nature of time, and another is an ode to a friend.

And, if you are wondering about my "absurdity" comment, some of the subjects that appear are: the almost universally hailed Middle East peace plan and the immediate violence that followed; the backlash comedians are getting for performing in Saudi Arabia; how memes are a convenient way to bullhorn someone else's ideas; Red/Trumpism vs. Blue/Liberals; and how a lot of social media "friendships" are, in many ways, just a COVID-less six feet (and more) of distance.

Coming from a field grounded in facts and clarity, how has it felt to step into a more abstract and interpretive form like poetry?

Boundless.

What do you think AI brings to the table as a creative partner?

The speed of light. The vast knowledge of everything in the universe, and mind you, VAST used here is an understatement.

People say AI can be wrong, but your professor can also be incorrect.

It may come down to this: do you want to learn from something that pretty much knows EVERYTHING or not?

To me, AI is a tool, but more advanced than other helpful instruments in the past — stones, the reed pen, paper, the Gutenberg press, the eraser, the typewriter, the calculator, software, and the personal computer.

I also see humans composing text in the near future using titles such as producer, editor, and creator. Writing will be done almost solely by AI, and I'm sure many will have a problem with that statement. I don't plan to argue that point with anyone. I would rather sit back and watch what is inevitable.

Do you find that your journalistic background still influences your poetry in terms of structure, tone, or subject matter?

For the most part, yes. So far, I have been dealing with real things factually and not straying too far from prose.

I intend to experiment more with structure, abstraction, and devices, such as metaphor, rhythm, meter, cadence, and rhyme.

And I have to laugh about this: I gave Chat GPT some input about some factual things and asked it to write me a short essay in the style of "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce. The result wasn't a total failure, and so Chat GPT gets credit for that old college try. It could never rival Joyce for seemingly nonsensical creativity. OR COULD IT?