Can lyric poetry also foster ethical awareness in the age of AI?

Abstract

Drawing from a reflection motivated, on the one hand, by the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) on the promotion of literary reading and, on the other hand, by the urgency of rethinking not only the training of Portuguese teachers, but also the teaching of poetic texts, this study focuses on the role of lyrical texts intended primarily for children and young people in promoting and developing ethical values.

In a society increasingly dominated by algorithmic systems, digital interactions and by the fragmentation and superficiality of reading, in which the speed at which technological advances emerge and are implemented largely suppresses both teachers' preparation and the capacity to formulate critical judgemente about the changes being implemented, the role of Literature – and of lyric poetry in particular – in the development of ethical awareness becomes truly indispensable. It should be noted, therefore, that, unlike AI algorithms which operate according to models of linguistic homogenisation, the lyric text, by intrinsically denying such uniformity and by privileging prblematisation, ambiguity, reflection on language and its relationship with the world, cultivates essential competences for ethical practice.

As such, this study aims to demonstrate, through critical reading of a Portuguese-language lyric texts corpus, how poetic elements favour meaningful understanding and promote reflection on ethical questions. Thus, the aim is to open pathways for research that contribute to a literary education which functions simultaneously as critical resistance to algorithmic logic and as the integral formation of citizens capable of autonomy, critical and ethical thinking.