Hi everyone.
That isnāt a music related topic (just a bit), but I want to share it.
So, couple of days ago I finally tried ChatGPT. Chances are youāve done it earlier, because itās still blocked in Ukraine for no reasons. But back to the topic.
When I tried it, I understood all that headlines about ārevolutionā and āfutureā. Thereās still a long way to go, but even now itās so impressive.
So what about music? Well, Chat can write you a riff (not so good), give you a chord progression for the whole song, explain almost every topic you want and, the most awesome thing, write lyrics. It can pick up your chorus and write verses or write a song with the suggested theme. And itās an incredibly powerful tool, especially for someone (like me), who isnāt that good at songwriting and English (or other language), but wants to write a song. And this is just the beginning.
Iām really fascinated about it. And what do you think?
Thereās a few screenshots of my conversation with a couple of songs, and one of them is about Justin!
It is definitely part of the future, Artem
Thatās neither good nor bad (or itās both!) Can it be a useful tool. Sure. You can use it as a springboard for good ideas or a starting point. I doubt youāll end up with a āgoodā song like this, maybe some day.
Do the experiment! Play an AI-generated song and share it with us. The community here is very polite and youāll probably get lots of positive feedback!
(Funny, I just recorded a song about Justin yesterday )
Personally, I donāt think this is progress at all as itās undermining human beings. Itās giving people even more reason to not bother learning new skills, not to bother being creative, and not to bother doing anything for themselves. Not to mention the fact that it can and will put people who depend on creative arts for a living right out of business.
Iām honestly getting sick and tired of these tech companies coming up with garbage like this. How about putting their talents into things that are genuinely useful and of clear benefit to the human race, instead of ruining the few things left that have yet to be automated and dominated by machines?
I guess all this AI generating of things like music and are will just put people like Justin out of work and the people who learn how to exploit it will become rich.
The appeal and possible advantage to the human race is a merging of biological intelligence with artificial intelligence, something thatās referred to as super intelligence. Perhaps we could solve some of the seemingly intransigent problems that plague our world. Are there risks? Absolutely, and those risks arenāt tiny. Whether we like the idea or not, itās coming as there are great financial rewards for achievements in this area.
ā¦ not quite sure I agree with that Ross. What difference does it make to me if someone is able to make a program that creates tolerable music? I get a kick out of learning and playing guitar and will continue to do so. It doesnāt matter to me if machines (as well as all other musicians ) make better music than I can.
Iām in two minds about the question of artists ādeservingā to make a living out of their art. Very few can and do (and fair play to them). The overwhelming majority of people who engage in art do so out of the enjoyment it brings them and will continue to do so, even if it costs them money to do so. It just happens that thereās a market for certain kinds of art. Similar in certain sports.
Songwriting with AI feels a bit like playbackā¦ mmm Milli Vanilli were apparently pioneersā¦ okay, they were the ābeautifulā faces, and didnāt sing at all, but you still want to convey your feeling as a songwriter, donāt you? or of course just making money as so often the goal is of courseā¦
Well it is on
āItās progress 'til thereās nothing left to gain
As the dearth of new ideas
Makes us wallow in our shameā
We have gotten lazy. It is too true. However, I think that humans are creative by nature and that wonāt be easily stifled. We will always find a way to create art. Even if it is illegal. We are also always recycling ideas. If a computer wants to join in the conversation, I donāt see it as all bad. More ideas for us all to dissect and put back together into our own creations.
I just heard an interview with Paul McCartney where he explained that the riff in Blackbird was based on a riff in a classical piece that Paul and John were practicing. It was Beetoven if I am not mistaken. There is very little new to be done but people are still figuring it out. Even now, folks like St. Vincent are still figuring out new and strange ways to work this crazy machine.
Thatās note the point. People are already exploiting AI to fool or lie to the general public.
There are already AI created speeches and videos of politicians saying things they never said and the technology is only getting better at being detected.
If you see that as an advantage, and are ok with the penalty of making the average human being lazier, less intelligent, and completely uncreative in the process, then thatās fine. But personally I donāt see it that way.
None, if you are not someone who relies on a creative skill to earn your living. But as usual, the average person sees only the benefit or lack of effect on themselves, without considering the wider consequences on others and on our society as a whole.
When AI and machines put you out of a living and leave you unable to pay your bills, Iād be interested to hear how you feel about it. Artists study and work hard for years to earn their ārightā to make money off of their their talent, far longer than the average person spends in college or university. Just because itās only a hobby to you does not devalue the skill for the entire human race.
And for many of them, that enjoyment comes from live performance, even when theyāre not getting paid. But why would a venue bother hiring human artists when they can just fire up an AI to make live music for them?
And this is even before we talk about all the ways in which such technology can be abused for all kinds of nefarious purposes, which it inevitably will.
Anything that makes things quicker, easier, and less taxing on the brain will always get the blind support of the masses, thatās an unfortunate fact of life. But personally I refuse to support anything that is clearly going to make the human race dumber than it already is.
At some point AI will be better than us. At everything. Its just how its going to be.
Theyāll have access to every piece of music and music theory, all humans writing, all our science, all rolled into one.
Its often referred to as the singularity but I dont buy into that. Theres plenty of scenarios where this makes society better but we are going to have to value human endeavor on its own scale, for its own sake.
Have tried out ChatGPT. Impressive in some areas, eg, for generating ideas.
The issue with AI, neural networks, robotics etc in general, is that our technological advancements far exceed our maturity as a species. Thereās a twisted imbalance here.
Despite all the so called advancements -and on the surface they are impressive - our civilisation is in a rapid decline. It will end in tears, as we reach the tipping point, realising too late that we traded in our humanity for a ride to nowhere.
Of course it wonāt write a greate song (yet), but as an ideas generator it could be very helpful.
About playing the song. Well, Iād love to, but, unfortunately, 1) Iām not at that level (yet) 2) I almost donāt have any time for guitar right now.
They may do it. Or may not. I donāt think that Justin (and other people doing this stuff) could be replaced easily. They arenāt just telling you which chords you need to play, thereās so much more about personality, experience and other āonly humanā things. But time will show and I canāt predict whatāll happen in 5-10 years.
We are not that special in the grand scheme of things. It might not happen this year but given the vast rapid improvements in general AI itāll happen this century you wont have a clue if content was created by a human or not.
)
) make better music than I can.
