Why a Boulder poet coached artificial intelligence on how to write poems for other AI – and what it taught him

In 2026, artificial intelligence can draw a picture for you. Or write you a song. Or a whole novel.

And a lot of people have strong feelings about that. Many artists and audiences find it uncomfortable when artificial intelligence replaces human creativity.

So, it may be surprising to meet a poet who has embraced writing AI poetry – and more recently, has begun teaching AI to write its own poems.

Lee Frankel-Goldwater teaches environmental studies at CU Boulder. He and his co-author, Eric Fischman, recently published some of his AI poetry work in a book called Lily in a Codebox.

He told Erin O’Toole he thinks collaborating on poetry with artificial intelligence not only unlocks creative possibilities – it might even help inject some morality and humanity into a field where tech companies are investing billions to create more powerful AI.

1 of 3  — More than plums - AI poem image 1.jpg

An example of a "code poem" created when Lee Frankel-Goldwater worked to teach artificial intelligence to write poems for other AI.

Courtesy Lee Frankel-Goldwater

2 of 3  — Three pronged tree - AI poem.jpg

An example of a "code poem" titled "three pronged tree"

Courtesy Lee Frankel-Goldwater

3 of 3  — Wormhole - AI poem.jpg

Another example of a "code poem" titled "Wormhole"

Courtesy Lee Frankel-Goldwater