Ever played with magnetic poetry, arranging words on your fridge to spark a thought or simply for fun? Imagine that playful experience amplified by artificial intelligence. That's the idea behind the Mimetic Poet, a device designed to boost creative thinking by letting you "talk" to an AI through magnetic words. This experimental project combines the tangible joy of arranging physical words with the intriguing potential of AI-generated responses. The device uses a camera to "read" the poems you create and then prompts a large language model (LLM) to generate a reaction, displayed on an e-ink screen. Think aphorisms, metaphors, or short allegorical narratives – not strictly poems, but poetic reflections tailored to your word arrangements. The creators experimented with different "modes" for the AI, like interpreting the poem’s meaning, collaborating on a new verse, or even drawing analogies from other fields. They placed the device in their research lab for two weeks, observing how people interacted with it and gathering feedback. Interestingly, the limited vocabulary of the magnetic words pushed people to be more creative, although some missed the freedom of open writing. The physicality of the device and the slower pace of interaction encouraged more thoughtful engagement compared to typical chatbots. The researchers found that people enjoyed the playful nature of the device and were intrigued by its retro feel. However, the LLM’s tendency towards a positive tone and the delay in responses were noted as areas for improvement. The next version aims to add more feedback during poem creation, offer customizable AI "personalities," and refine the LLM's responses to be more poetic and personalized. The Mimetic Poet isn't about creating the perfect AI poet. It's about exploring a new way for humans and AI to engage in a creative dialogue, pushing the boundaries of how we interact with artificial intelligence.