Stable Diffusion does a really good job of imitating a particular artist. See all the drama regarding Greg Rutkowski, for example.

LLMs will reach the same level sooner or later.

That’s just a question of when, not if.

It's a case of never. No machine will ever create a new 'work of Shakespeare' and it's ridiculous to think otherwise.

I would be pretty interested already in a work containing typical tropes of Shakespeare, stylistically Shakespearean, but still original enough to be not a rehash of any of his existing works. I guess I would not be the only one to find that exciting or at least mildy interesting.

But your point is of course valid, it would not be a 'work of Shakespeare'.

Ok, so as I understand it, you're considering having a living human write a new play and then put it through an LLM such as GPT to rewrite it in 'the style of Shakespeare'.

That is possible yes, but only within a limited interpretation of 'the style of Shakespeare'. It could only draw from the lexicon used in the existing body of Shakespeare works, and perhaps some other contemporary Elizabethan playwrights. It wouldn't include any neologisms, as Shakespeare himself invariably included in each new play. It couldn't be a further development of his style, as Shakespeare himself developed his style in each new play. So it would be a shallow mimicry and not something that Shakespeare would have produced himself if he had written a new play (based on a 21st century authors plot).

I personally wouldn't find that interesting. I acknowledge that you wrote only 'mildly interesting' and yes, it could be mildly interesting in the way of what an LLM can produce. But not interesting in the sense of literature, to my mind. Frankly, I'd prefer just to read the original new play written by the living human, if it was good. (I also prefer to not ride on touristic paddle-wheel boats powered by a diesel engine but with fake smokestacks.)

Well, if you choose to interpret “a work of Shakespeare” literally, then obviously. But that’s not what people mean.

It's frankly stupid to interpret it as anything else.

Sorry for the strong language but this is a ridiculous line to take. A 'work of Shakespeare' is not even remotely open to interpretation as being something produced in the 21st century.