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'Dear ChatGPT': 12-year-old wins top youth prize at Australian Poetry Slam – video
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Blake Mackenzie, a 12-year-old poet from Newcastle, has won the top youth prize at the Australian Poetry Slam for a work examining artificial intelligence. He performed the poem, titled "Dear ChatGPT," at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night. The win places a young voice at the center of a national contest now in its 22nd year.
In the piece, Blake reflected on doomscrolling, loneliness and intellectual atrophy. Those themes connected his personal observations to broader anxieties about how AI tools shape attention and thought. The performance turned a youth competition into a platform for questions about technology’s role in daily life.
The Australian Poetry Slam ran 65 heats in 60 towns and cities across the country to select 16 finalists. That nationwide process brought competitors from varied communities to the Sydney stage. The structure highlights the contest’s reach beyond major cities.
As youth winner, Blake shares a prize package worth $20,000 with Alice Springs poet Bivor. Bivor won the adult category for his poem "Politics Is Doing You." The shared award links the youth and adult champions in a single headline result.
The result matters because it puts AI criticism and digital wellbeing at the center of a mainstream cultural event. A 12-year-old’s perspective drew attention to loneliness and intellectual atrophy in an increasingly connected environment. The setting, the Sydney Opera House, gave those concerns a prominent public stage.
The competition’s 22-year history and 65-heat format show a sustained national commitment to poetry. Blake’s victory suggests young performers can shape debates about technology through art. Future contests may continue to reflect such contemporary concerns.
