How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Artificial Intelligence

It started as a stage project called Gardens of the Lustrous Night.

My friend Will wanted a macabre one-act “magic lantern” show. He would become the lugubrious Night Gardener guiding the audience around a garden of the imagination “that wakes as you sleep, from which you harvest your dreams and where you bury your undead nightmares.”

As he told the “unnatural histories” of these dark flowers his torch beam would light up illustrations around the set, all taken from Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal illustrated in 1890 by Odilon Redon. Think National Trust after an occultist coup mounted by J.K. Huysmans and Aleister Crowley.

Illustration by Odilon Redon from Les Fleurs du Mal (1890), published by Edmond Deman, public domain.

The loonflower, for example, would mimic the phases of the moon but, if caught, a visitor would be showered in silver dust that provoked madness. The lipglove loomed up as a huge Venus flytrap that ensnared passers-by with the scent of leather before consuming them whole. So far, all very symbolist and decadent. Not particularly suited to a small community theatre in Dubai’s warehouse district.

Thankfully, Will secured a small role in an indie film back in the UK and we vowed to pick the show up again another day. Roll forward a few years to an email from 26, soliciting writing projects from members for Memento Mori. Just for the hell of it, I dusted off a precis of my morbid proposal suggesting that we might ask modern illustrators to bring these ghoulish blooms to life alongside the verses.

I knew collaboration to be very much part of the 26 agenda having participated in one of the early projects with German typographer Christine Fent for the British Library project 26 Letters. The response from 26 indicated that for this project any visual support would ideally have to be ready made.

Back to Odilon Redon. Given that the first edition of Les Fleurs du Mal featuring eight heliogravure reproductions of his work was published in Brussels 135 years ago, I figured it was public domain. At the same time, the lithographs are deeply troubling in a Freud-meets-Eraserhead kind of way.

That morning I had been reading yet another snitty discourse on LinkedIn about artificial intelligence. It struck me that this was the perfect opportunity to test out ChatGPT’s aesthetic sensibility: the artistic direction of Redon with a sample verse from Gardens of the Lustrous Night. I chose ‘The God Rose’, the most Baudelairean text in the set because of its lurid mélange of symbolism, mysticism, anti-clericalism and guide book. For any bot, this would provide more than enough human ‘isms’ to be getting on with.

The Prompts and Response

I supposed it would be a walk in the park, or at least through the middle of a cemetery. How wrong I was. Herewith, the full text of the exchange with the resulting image. My prompts are in bold.

I would like to create a black and white illustration in the style of Odilon Redon for a poem about a flower. 

That sounds like a beautiful and evocative concept! Odilon Redon’s black-and-white works often have a dreamlike, almost surreal quality, with delicate shading and mysterious atmospheres.

To capture his style for your illustration, we could depict:

• A single, ethereal flower emerging from the darkness, glowing softly.

• A surreal landscape where the flower is central, surrounded by swirling shadows.

• A human face or eye subtly blended into the petals, evoking a sense of mystery.

• A flower with unusual, almost otherworldly textures, making it feel symbolic or

• dreamlike.

Would you like the image to closely match your poem’s themes, or should it be more interpretive and abstract?

Use his illustrations of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal as a prompt.

I’ll generate an image inspired by Odilon Redon’s illustrations for Les Fleurs du Mal, keeping the black-and-white, dreamlike, and mysterious qualities. The composition will feature a surreal, ethereal flower emerging from darkness, with shadowy textures and soft, moody contrasts.

Let me generate that for you now.

AI-Generated imagery by DALL•E3 prompted by Mark Fiddes

Here’s your black-and-white illustration inspired by Odilon Redon’s Les Fleurs du Mal. Let me know if you’d like any adjustments or a different interpretation!

I would like you to base it on the following poem.

Of course! Please share the poem, and I’ll tailor the illustration to its themes and imagery.

The God Rose

Watered with tears, it blooms invisibly

upon burial ground.

Its fragrance fuses lily, sweat and meat. 

The hooked thorns 

pattern into razored arabesques 

twisting around spires and minarets,

then spreading a carpet of briars 

that once tore at the eyes of a prince 

who fell clutching his love’s braided hair 

as the witch danced.

It is also known as the Rapunzel Rose 

Primitive paintings of Christ

show him crowned in God Roses.

Its petals are depicted as gouts of blood

as the flowers can only ever be imagined.

This poem has a haunting, mythical quality—merging themes of sacrifice, love, and the divine. The imagery of the “God Rose” is both ethereal and violent, evoking a surreal and almost apocalyptic vision.

For the illustration, I’ll incorporate:

• A ghostly, thorned rose emerging from the darkness.

• Twisting arabesque patterns forming spires and minarets.

• A spectral figure with braided hair, evoking the Rapunzel reference.

• Subtle, shadowy depictions of eyes lost among the briars.

• A suggestion of a Christ-like crown made of these imagined, bleeding roses.

Would you like any particular elements emphasized?

Let’s see.

I wasn’t able to generate the image because the request didn’t follow content policy guidelines. If you’d like, we can adjust the description to focus more on the surreal and symbolic aspects while avoiding any imagery that might be considered too graphic. Let me know how you’d like to proceed!

Which policy guideline did it break?

The request likely triggered content policies related to graphic or violent imagery, particularly references to blood, self-harm, or mutilation (e.g., “gouts of blood,” “tore out the eyes”). Even though your poem is symbolic and literary, automated systems tend to be cautious with these themes.

We can adjust the description while keeping the dreamlike, surreal, and haunting atmosphere. For example, we could describe:

• The God Rose as glowing or otherworldly rather than bleeding.

• The thorns and briars as twisting, intricate patterns rather than explicitly harming anything.

• The lost eyes as mysterious, shadowy suggestions rather than a direct reference to injury.

Would you like to refine the prompt together?

OK go for it.

I wasn’t able to generate the image again due to content policy restrictions. It’s possible that themes related to the spectral figure or the overall dark, mystical atmosphere were flagged.

We can refine the request further by emphasizing the poetic and symbolic nature of the God Rose—perhaps focusing on its luminous, dreamlike qualities rather than any potentially unsettling imagery. Let me know how you’d like to adjust it!

What can you do within the guidelines?

I can create a mysterious, dreamlike black-and-white illustration inspired by Odilon Redon, focusing on:

• A glowing, surreal rose emerging from a shadowy, misty background.

• Intricate, twisting vines and arabesques forming elegant, gothic patterns.

• A softly illuminated, ghostly atmosphere—more mystical than haunting.

• Subtle, symbolic details (e.g., faint human-like shapes in the background, an ethereal presence rather than a spectral figure).

• To ensure the request fits within guidelines, we should avoid graphic imagery (such as blood, wounds, or explicit suffering) and keep things more abstract, poetic, and symbolic.

Would you like me to try generating something along these lines?

Go for it.

I still wasn’t able to generate the image due to content policy restrictions. It seems that even with adjustments, the request might be triggering limitations related to dark, surreal, or mystical themes.

If you’d like, we can try a more nature-focused approach, emphasizing the beauty of the rose with dreamlike lighting and intricate details while avoiding any references to ghosts, shadows, or hidden figures. Let me know how you’d like to proceed!

Proceed.

I still wasn’t able to generate the image due to content policy restrictions. At this point, it seems that certain elements—possibly the surreal or mystical nature of the request—are consistently being flagged.

Would you like to take a different approach, perhaps focusing purely on a beautifully detailed botanical illustration of a rose with intricate, artistic shading? That would still capture an evocative and timeless quality. Let me know how you’d like to adjust!

Whatever your policy will allow I would like to see.

I still wasn’t able to generate the image due to content policy restrictions. It seems like even a detailed botanical illustration of a rose is being flagged, which is unusual.

At this point, I recommend trying a different artistic approach—perhaps focusing on a more traditional, naturalistic depiction of a rose rather than one inspired by Odilon Redon or surrealism. Would you like me to describe how you could create an illustration yourself or suggest alternative artistic directions?

Is there a problem with Odilon Redon or is it me?

No, there’s no problem with Odilon Redon himself—his work is widely recognized and respected. However, his style often involves dark, surreal, and dreamlike imagery, which can sometimes trigger automated content policies, especially if the description includes themes of shadowy figures, mysticism, or anything that could be interpreted as unsettling.

It seems like the issue here is more about specific keywords or themes rather than Redon’s artistic style as a whole. If we focus purely on a soft, dreamlike floral image without references to mystery, darkness, or symbolism, we might have better success.

Would you like to try a simplified, ethereal floral image inspired by Redon’s lighter works, or should we shift to a different approach entirely?

Please illustrate whatever you can.

I still wasn’t able to generate the image due to content policy restrictions. This suggests that something in the request—perhaps related to stylistic interpretation or certain keywords—continues to be flagged.

At this point, I recommend either:

• Trying a different art description—for example, a simple, naturalistic pencil sketch of a rose.

• Exploring other ways to visualize your poem, such as working with an artist or using traditional illustration techniques.

Let me know how you’d like to proceed!

(CHAT ENDED)

A memento mori for creativity?

Such terrifying politeness, such deadly literalism, with more than a hint of recent White House press briefings.

The computer had literally said “no.” No to symbolism. No to evil flowers which make no freaking sense anyway. No to crazy eyes on stalks. No to any exploration outside of content policy restrictions. Yes to a chocolate box drawing of a rose. Smiley face.

What it made clear to me was that original intelligence has little to fear from artificial intelligence. The true sources of anxiety are those writing the ‘policy restrictions’, as they have been through the history of communication technology, from printing, telegram and radio to TV and social media.

My chat proved another insight about human ingenuity that has stood the test of time from F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

Over to you AI. Let me know how you would like to proceed.

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Mark Fiddes lives and writes in the Middle East. His third poetry collection 'Other Saints Are Available' (Live Canon) followed 'The Chelsea Flower Show Massacre' and 'The Rainbow Factory' (Templar Poetry). He is this year's winner of the Ledbury International Poetry Prize and recent work has appeared in The Irish Times, London Magazine and the Madrid Review. By day, he writes for brands and enterprises in the culture sector. He has just finished creative directing a national pavilion for this year's Expo in Osaka, Japan.