- The anonymous author admitted himself and refused the promotion – he wanted to provoke a discussion about how to “preserve what is created by man, not by machine”
- In Stara Zagora, they still do not know with whom they are communicating – a person or a machine, a man or a woman, maybe a whole group. They suspect that someone is writing a scientific paper and doing an experiment
“It turned out that the oldest poetry competition in Bulgaria entered the future the fastest.” Thus, the director of the “Rodina” library in Stara Zagora, Slava Draganova, commented on an unusual situation in which the organizers of the “Veselin Hanchev” competition found themselves. A poem written by artificial intelligence was also submitted for participation. /Actually, the Haskovo “South Spring” was established ten years earlier, but there compete authors with their first published book, while in Stara Zagora, poets who have not yet published a collection of poems participate. It is no coincidence that the publication of the winner’s first book is part of the grand prize of “Veselin Hanchev”.
Rodina Library, together with the municipality and the Geo Milev House Museum, is the organizer of the contest in Stara Zagora, which this year was held for the 41st time. 92 young Bulgarian poets took part in it – 67 girls and 25(+1) boys.
The jury chaired by the Rector of the New Bulgarian University Prof. Plamen Doinov
is impressed by the poem “Grandfather”,
written without capital letters and punctuation, and decided to give him an incentive prize. (See poem below.) It was sent by Christian Papazov, 21 years old, from the Silistren village of Nozharevo. As per the regulation, the e-mail with which the work was received contains a telephone number for feedback and an address.
However, the organizers failed to contact the author by phone to inform him of the award and to invite him personally to the ceremony. It turns out that such a number does not exist. In conversation with them
the mayor of Nozharevo assures them that there has never been a person with such a name and age in the village
Then they write to the author at the email address where the poem is from. And they get the most unexpected answer: the author renounces his incentive award and admits that the poems are the work of artificial intelligence and there is not a single word from the author in them. He wrote that he applied with several works created in this way because he wanted to do an experiment. And he adds that he does not want to be a public figure. His only desire is with this experiment to provoke discussion and change, so that “man-made things are preserved, not machine-made ones”. I would be glad to
if in the future a way is found for such works to be recognized
He categorically refused to come to Stara Zagora for the award ceremony.
In Stara Zagora, they are puzzled by what happened, but they think that it is not moral for the author to act in this way and make fun of them. Until now, he prefers to remain anonymous and does not always respond to e-mails. Local IT experts have found that
his email provider is based in Switzerland
The organizers of the competition can only guess whether they are communicating with a living person or a machine, whether Khristian Papazov is his real name, whether he is a man or a woman, or whether they are a group of people, whether he is of a young age,
“We really don’t know how to prove authorship or co-authorship with artificial intelligence. No one can recognize him at the moment – not us who work in a library and read a lot of poetry, not anyone on the jury. Now everything depends on the good will of the creator. If someone can create an algorithm to distinguish artificial intelligence from pure authorship, we will implement it”, said Slava Draganova.
In Stara Zagora, they have already decided that next year the library and the municipality will initiate a discussion on the creation of literary works by artificial intelligence. They will invite poets, writers, literary critics, teachers and participants in the jury of literary contests, experts in digital marketing and copyright, representatives of the Ministry of Culture. Most likely, the discussion will take place next year in April.
In addition, the regulations of the “Veselin Hanchev” competition are also being changed, through which the organizers will distinguish themselves from receiving texts created with artificial intelligence. In the conditions they will write that
authors will have to sign a declaration that they do not use artificial intelligence
in the creation of works.
And the ceremony to award this year’s laureates of the competition last week was marked by the history of artificial intelligence. In her speech to the participants, the deputy mayor of Stara Zagora for culture, Milena Zheleva, said: “This year is different and with something else, and we, the organizers, want to share this with you. For the first time in the 41st edition, we have a participant, which is not a human, but an artificial intelligence. An incentive award has been issued, but it will not be awarded by the organizers, nor by the jury
to adapt its status to the challenges of the new world
We cannot stop the development of technology and artificial intelligence! Young people understand this best. Another is the question of ethics and morality and how far technology will go. Here and on this you can also create, reflect. As for us – we will be very careful about the next editions.”
According to her, the beauty of poetry and the flight of thought cannot in any way be technologically adapted and defeated. “What you do cannot be broken by artificial intelligence. Believe in your strengths and capabilities. We will support you! This is your holiday and your moment!” Zheleva told the participants.
In his greeting, the chairman of the jury, Prof. Plamen Doinov, also drew attention to this: “This year, the jury and I were absolutely unanimous in the decision about which work should be the winner of the grand prize. And regarding artificial intelligence, in fact, this is about ethics, not about who created the artistic content. It does not matter if the author did not create this work himself. There is only one winner!”
“Poetry continues! Don’t stop writing. Time passes, but poetry remains!”, added the poet Mirela Ivanova, professor at Sofia University and member of the jury.
The words of all three are confirmed by the fact that before the truth about the intervention of artificial intelligence in the “Vesselin Hanchev” competition was known, the jury unanimously decided that the “Golden Egg” grand prize goes to 23-year-old Katerina Vasileva from Sofia – a real author , who came to the awards ceremony. Thus it became clear that, despite everything, the artificial intelligence was not able to outsmart the organizers and prevail over human talent, and this brought them satisfaction.
Grandfather
he was a man of another time
but every night he turned the past into a glass
he was drinking his memories
until there was nothing left but silence
sometimes he told stories
through alcoholic smoke
for his youth for the loves that
they have long since dissolved
like ice in his glass
but I could see the sadness behind the smile
and I knew that every sip
is an attempt to escape from something
which he will never admit
he was more than the cup in his hand
was a man who tried
to find a way
to live with the burden of yesterday
in you.
Christian Papazov,
21 years old, from the village of Nozharevo,
Silistra region
“Golden Egg” grand prize to Katerina Vasileva at the 41st “Veselin Hanchev” poetry competition. The event highlighted the ongoing dialogue on the implications of artificial intelligence in creative fields and the need for ethical considerations in the literary community. The presence of a poem generated by AI raised questions about authorship, originality, and the role of technology in artistic expression, prompting the organizers to rethink contest rules and initiate discussions on this complex issue.