Date of Award

Spring 5-11-2026

Document Type

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in English

Department

English

Advisor

Deniz Perin-Coombs

Abstract

Poets wield their pens to respond to various societal or cultural stimuli—including politics, art, science, and more. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is an exponential development that has become a leading topic of discussion. This project, titled Database, is a collection of poems that interrogates the tensions that exist between humanity and technology through the use of modern imagery, such as robots and virtual reality. These poems also examine the once distinct markers of humanity that characterized classical poetry, including emotion and sensory experiences, and reframes them within a contemporary context, giving technology and artificial consciousness a voice. Although this collection is ultimately a critique of AI and its ramifications, it offers no resolution, but is rather a poetic expression of the issue through the lens of the author. Now, AI and its metastasization are inevitable and all-encompassing, which requires something incredibly human at its core: a radical acceptance and understanding.

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