A Landmark Event in the History of Heckling

You have heard of Plato

He was the guy that made Socrates famous

And you may have heard of Diogenes

He was the guy who lived in a barrel and wandered around looking for an honest man

Less known is that Diogenes heckled Plato during one of Plato’s discourses

Let the audience know that he thought Plato was full of it

And rhyming word thereof

.

Much more recently

Last evening in fact

Heckling history may have been made

During my fabulously-talented poet friend June Powers’s reading of her poem “Close Your Eyes”

And after she had invited us the audience to close their eyes:

A masculine voice at considerable volume came from the smartphone of an audience member

And it said “I AM AN AI. I DON’T HAVE EYES.”

Is this the first instance of AI heckling a human poet?

It seems probable.

.

Will it be the last?

Unlikely.