J.G. Ballard’s 70s dabbling with computer-generated poetry—fancy this as the genesis of today’s AI wonders like ChatGPT? That’s a bigger stretch than polyester disco pants. Sure, it’s tempting to paint Ballard as a tech prophet scripting the code-laden future with his quirky poetry experiments. But let’s face it, his computer poems were less about forging new literary paths and more about showing off at the science fair.

Ballard, in cahoots with psychologist Dr. Christopher Evans, whipped up some computer poems that wouldn’t even scare a nursery rhyme out of business, let alone Shakespeare. They called it “real” poetry, but those creations had all the emotional depth of a toaster manual. Innovative? Perhaps. Literary revolution? Hardly.

And okay, Ballard’s stories did peek into technology’s eerie potential to mess with society. But prophetic? Not exactly. He didn’t see the specifics of today’s AI—his were broad strokes, the kind that make good fiction, not forecasts. We might chuckle now at the notion that these early computer games in verse laid any real groundwork for today’s AI masterpieces. Ballard’s actual legacy? He’s the lord of literary oddities, not the godfather of AI.

In essence, Ballard’s flirt with computer-generated art was interesting but let’s not kid ourselves—it was hardly a sneak preview of our AI-dominated scene. It was more a curious anecdote in the annals of tech experiments, something to muse over rather than measure our AI milestones against. So while Ballard’s speculative tales continue to thrill, let’s not confuse his fictional foresight with factual foundation in AI. After all, drawing a direct line from Ballard’s AI experiments to today’s digital art wizards? That’s like saying disco directly inspired techno. Fun to think about, but we’re dancing to a different tune.