To be or not to be, that is the qwerty

It is only natural that computer programmers would be attracted to the poetic art form. There are clearly defined standards of performance in most fields of human endeavour but not in poetry, where mediocrity abounds. It is harder to get found out. Poetry is also text-based, which means easy access to sources and less complex technical challenges.

Computer-generated poetry has been with us almost from the beginning. The very first computer show I attended, in Sydney Town Hall in 1979, featured a poetry generator running on an Apple II.