Polite Type

Beth Fileti (she/her), a multidisciplinary designer exploring art and technology. I specialize in systems thinking, communication strategies, and design solutions.

Close to Red

p5js + word2vec ML model

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2021

A poem generator that mixes words like paint on a palette. The machine learning model powering this piece was removed due to this work.

View the code here
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. hats (close to purple) / hats + pink = socks / socks (close to yellow)

Concept

Imagine you could alter language as simply as you mix paints on a palette. Using a neural network-trained language model, we can add one word to another, changing it to something new. Close to Red is a tool that invites you to mix a random word with a color word, capturing your interaction in a short poem.

This project revealed racials slurs that were present in the machine learning dataset that I was using. I decided to rewrite the code to reveal the bias in the algorithm  by representing slurs with their mathematical representation.

How it works

This generator was built with word2vec, which has since been de-activated.  Check out some poems below or read my process book.

Using word vectors, this poem generator prompted users to select a word to start a poem.

The word would be tied to a color. The user was then prompted to mix that word with another color, to see what new word was generated.

More Poems

A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. gunshots (close to yellow) / gunshots + pink = screams / screams (close to blue)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. http (close to red) / http + pink = panties / panties (close to pink)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. experienced (close to orange) / experienced + red = suffered / suffered (close to red)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. pressure (close to red) / pressure + orange = squeeze / squeeze (close to green)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. human (close to pink) / human + orange = humanity / humanity (close to purple)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. fishing (close to blue) / fishing + green = golf / golf (close to green)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. clown (close to purple) / clown + pink = fairy / fairy (close to green)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. hats (close to purple) / hats + pink = socks / socks (close to yellow)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. pizza (close to blue) / pizza + red = soup / soup (close to grey)
A poem with bars of colors next to each line. The poem reads: A word. losers (close to green) / losers + orange = florida / florida (close to orange)

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