Tik Tok: Get a new song every minute from this AI watch

A new project is using ChatGPT to publish funny tunes in the form of a physical, digital watch. Designed to look at home on a desk or bedside table, Poetry/1 is the brainchild of London-based technologist Matt Webb, who launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project.

Webb, who holds a master's degree in physics from Oxford University, started the Poem/1 project last year. The idea came from a desire for technology mixed with everyday objects like alarm clocks.

“For a long time, I've been interested in atmospheric computing, what happens when our technology is around us, in space, rather than asking for attention in our pockets,” Webb told Decrypt. “At the same time, I see long-term potential in what I call 'embedded AI' rather than agents.”

He continued: “Recently, I've been hatching AI for clients. I embrace playful experimentation as a process, and I've been using poetry to demonstrate that there is ‘AI in the loop' with a particular application.

“The two came together,” he recalled. “I put these AI poems on my e-ink screen on my bookshelf and couldn't stop laughing. Then I knew I had to do it.”

Webb's first project took twenty minutes to create using an e-paper display attached to a Raspberry Pi. Poem/1 uses an API connected to OpenAI's ChatGPT to generate random poems.

“In the prototype, I used a Raspberry Pi,” Webb said. But the problem with Pi is that it's not easy to set up for end users, and my prototype created all the rhymes that are expensive for the end user, as well as resource intensive in general.

Notably, the so-called clock doesn't tell the time—at least not in numbers. Poem/1 generates a new poem every minute that matches the current time.

For example: “The clock on your hands, I'll show you the clock. It's 3:50 in the evening. Like the ticking of moments.” Or, “It's steaming, a cup too good, nine forty one, coffee time.”

Webb said he chose OpenAI's generative AI model for his imagination, admitting he had to prompt the chatbot to include time.

“Other models are approaching the virtual quality of ChatGPT but are not reliable in terms of responding in a consistent machine-readable format,” he said. “They're prone to learning slippage, and it makes it difficult to combine them… GPT-4 can write better lyrics.

Or at least, he uses more words than $10,” he exclaimed. But it's more expensive, and for a reason.

Webb explained that the production version of Poem/1 will centralize and process the lyrics, adding an e-paper screen and a Wi-Fi module, which will be sourced from China, where the manufacturing takes place.

At launch, Poem/1 will only ship to the United Kingdom and the United States, but Webb says it may open up shipping to other countries.

Webb said that aside from using APIs in this way, he worries about what would happen if the company that runs the servers goes out of business. A more fundamental problem Webb faces is funding the project.

“With factory minimum order sizes etc, I need to raise $100K to complete development and get the ball rolling,” Webb said on Twitter. “I'm not a VC-funded startup. So this is a lo-fi old school campaign.

Thanks in part to media coverage and social media buzz, Webb says more than 1,500 people have signed up for Poems/1 Waits. So far, 322 backers have pledged $44,107, with 29 days left to write.

The project's Kickstarter, Webb said, is priced at $149 (about £119) plus shipping and import taxes, with retail prices expected to increase by 10% after production. Citing strong community support, he said the campaign reached 40% of its funding goal in the first nine hours.

“I don't take this for granted; I am extremely grateful and honored by his support and energy,” Webb said. “Still got a way to go.”

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.