Lonely Man and ChatGPT

[Editor’s Note: TRADITION prides itself on a certain editorial stodginess. Within 24 hours of the arrival of the whole ChatGPT mishegass we received an A.I. generated submission, which was promptly rejected. Don’t expect this journal of Orthodox Jewish thought to be publishing any robot-written scholarship anytime soon. And yet, when we encountered Ned Krasnopolsky’s Facebook page, we were charmed by his post offering a “rap battle” between Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Adam I and Adam II, as first presented in the pages of TRADITION. Is this a good interpretation of “The Lonely Man of Faith”? Can there be synthesis at the end or only dialectic? Would a sonnet be a better poetic form to examine these questions than a rap? You could ask your computer – or study the work for yourself. Krasnopolsky, of Fair Lawn, NJ, a junior in Yeshiva University studying physics and Tanakh, graciously allowed us to share this with our readers.]

This ChatGPT thing is pretty wild. I told it to write a rap battle between Adam I and II, referencing “TheLonely Man of Faith.” It even managed to incorporate the synthesis at the end.

Adam I:

Yo, I’m the first Adam, the king of the land

I dominate and control, with a strong and steady hand

I’m all about the material, the tangible and real

I build and create, and I never kneel

Adam II:

But hold up, my brother, don’t get too ahead

I’m the second Adam, the one who’s truly led

I seek a higher purpose, a spiritual connection

I live by faith and not by mere perception

Adam I:

Faith? That’s just a crutch for the weak and the scared

I rely on myself and the things that I’ve bared

I forge my own path, and I make my own fate

I am the master of my own destiny, mate

Adam II:

But there’s more to life than just power and pride

True fulfillment comes from the inside

I seek a deeper meaning, a connection divine

I live for something greater, and I’ll never decline

Adam I:

You may have your faith, but I have my might

I’ll take on the world, and I’ll win the fight

I am the first Adam, the one in command

I am the master of all that I have planned

Adam II:

But in the end, my brother, we both have our place

We each have a role in the human race

I may live by faith, but you keep us grounded

Together, we make up the whole that’s astounded

Adam I:

I guess you’re right, my brother, we do complement

Each other’s strengths, and we both have our bent

We may have our differences, but in the end, we’re kin

Together, we make up the lonely man of faith within.