AI produsing song lyrics

[harvon]

The AI can produce amazing lyrics, like it would really understand what it is doing. I prompted chatgpt with four statements about trying to fix people's thoughts and it responded with this:

Don’t Tell ‘Em

Verse 1:
Don’t tell 'em what they’ve never heard
They’ll just turn away, call it strange, call it blurred
You can whisper soft or shout out loud
But the truth don’t reach when the mind’s too proud

Pre-Chorus:
They got walls made of stories and stone
Built from fear and what they’ve always known

Chorus:
Don’t tell ‘em what they don’t wanna know
Don’t plant seeds where the wind won’t blow
Don’t try to shake a faith held tight
Reason can’t win that kind of fight
Let ‘em be in their chosen view
Their truth ain't yours, and that’s still true
Walk your road, let theirs be theirs too
Don’t tell ‘em… don’t tell ‘em

Verse 2:
Don’t say they’re wrong, it won’t land right
They’ll just dig in deeper, ready to fight
You could lay it bare, plain and wise
But the blind don’t see with their open eyes

Pre-Chorus:
Every word’s a spark to a flame
But a heart must change before the mind can name

Chorus:
Don’t tell ‘em what they don’t believe
Don’t try to make ‘em wear your sleeve
Don’t break your soul on a frozen wall
Sometimes silence says it all
Let ‘em think what they need to prove
Their truth won’t shift, it won’t be moved
You got yours — that’s more than enough
Don’t tell ‘em… don’t tell ‘em

Bridge:
The world don’t turn from shouting minds
It turns when hearts awake in time
So speak with grace, and live it clean
Let your light say what you mean

Final Chorus:
Don’t tell ‘em what they can’t receive
Don’t chase ghosts in webs they weave
Don’t argue stars to the ones who sleep
Some things are theirs you’re not meant to keep
Just be peace in the noise they bring
A silent bell that never rings
Truth walks quiet through and through
Don’t tell ‘em… don’t tell ‘em

This is quite amazing, coming from a language model that is not conscious. I got chords and a melody structure too.

[procrastive]

That's really pretty good! Maybe the final chorus could use some touching up - the mixed metaphor of ghosts and webs, for example, or the line about arguing stars...

Which LLM was that? I've used the free AIs available on duck.ai a little bit. On the May contest, I used about 10 percent of what the o3-mini ai suggested for lyrics, adding some lines of my own and rewriting a bit of what I kept from what was offered by the ai.

The ai will not complain if you edit or rewrite its offerings.

If you would like a collaborator on this song, I'd like to volunteer.

[jocknaethick]

Personally, I would consider this utter crap...but then again, aren't most song lyrics (I include my own in this). Whenever I read lyrics, the vast majority remind me of teenage poetry...self-indulgent swill or sad attempts to sound deep or mystical. I would say however, we are more than capable of penning such drivel without the assistance of contrived, plagiarising computer models.

[procrastive]

Personally, I would consider this utter crap...(snip).... I would say however, we are more than capable of penning such drivel without the assistance of contrived, plagiarising computer models.

Well, if it's just drivel, what does it matter that an ai or a human produced it?

Also, I don't think plagiarism means what you think it does, i.e. I think the ai is doing the same exact thing a human does when it creates a derivative version of a source or sources (although the human probably understands better what it is doing.) So, derivative, yes, plagiaristic, no.

Just something for your consideration...

[harvon]

That's really pretty good! Maybe the final chorus could use some touching up - the mixed metaphor of ghosts and webs, for example, or the line about arguing stars...

Which LLM was that? I've used the free AIs available on duck.ai a little bit. On the May contest, I used about 10 percent of what the o3-mini ai suggested for lyrics, adding some lines of my own and rewriting a bit of what I kept from what was offered by the ai.

The ai will not complain if you edit or rewrite its offerings.

If you would like a collaborator on this song, I'd like to volunteer.

I got the poem from ChatGPT, basic free service. I used for the first time a more detailed promt, and the ideas I presented in the prompt clearly influenced the resulting lyrics.

Collaboration would almost certainly bring a much better song but I decline your kind offer. I'm a 'do it all by myself' guy.

Personally, I would consider this utter crap...but then again, aren't most song lyrics (I include my own in this). Whenever I read lyrics, the vast majority remind me of teenage poetry...self-indulgent swill or sad attempts to sound deep or mystical. I would say however, we are more than capable of penning such drivel without the assistance of contrived, plagiarising computer models.

The AI gives back what has been fed in, in this case 'crap teenage poetry' (using your terms).

If we prompt the AI not to use the existing body of popular song lyrics as a model base, and are able to define our own custom base, then the AI might produce poems with other characteristics than 'crap teenage poetry'.

[jocknaethick]

If you can put in the effort to prompt your computer to write the song for you well, why not just write the bloody song?????

[jocknaethick]

Also, I don't think plagiarism means what you think it does, So, derivative, yes, plagiaristic, no.

Just something for your consideration...

ah yes...that old nut...it's "derivative"....it's amazing how many derivative works have been ordered to pay compensation in courts over the years (indicating that there are plenty of judges who agree with my view on plagiarism).

[harvon]

Would you like to participate In the July contest Jocknaethick? The theme this month is anger, which might be in tune with your music.

[procrastive]

ah yes...that old nut...it's "derivative"....it's amazing how many derivative works have been ordered to pay compensation in courts over the years (indicating that there are plenty of judges who agree with my view on plagiarism).

Sure, there is a large gray area between plagiarism and derivation. I'm not surprised that there are judges who have odd or extreme interpretations of where to draw the line.

Machine learning excels at recognizing and generating patterns. So when an "ai" does something that is imitative or impressionistic, I don't regard that as plagiarism as long as it's not spitting back out something largely identical to its sources. You may have a different point of view.

[procrastive]

Collaboration would almost certainly bring a much better song but I decline your kind offer. I'm a 'do it all by myself' guy.

That's fine... I look forward to hearing what you'll make with this

[Aloysius]

Better than a lot of ''real'' people. You could have different AI ''writers'' collaborating with each other.

[osiris]

AI helped me write lyrics when I was stuck on a second verse. Wrote verse chorus but wasn't happy with second verse. I brainstormed with the AI and it came up with some good stuff.
I don't use it for an entire song because the times I've asked it to do that it came up with utter drivel. Cornpone drivel.

[recmix]

Most AI-generated lyrics do lean on formulas and familiar tropes, but honestly, so do a lot of human-written lyrics. At least based on what gets played on mainstream radio, the bar for depth isn’t exactly high. Choruses are catchy, verses are safe, and emotional nuance is often boiled down to whatever fits a hook.

In that sense, AI is kind of mirroring the environment it was trained on - recycling patterns that already dominate the charts. Without specific guidance or some post-editing, it tends to reproduce the same lyrical shorthand that’s already out there.

[jancivil]

I don't get why anyone would want to outsource what might be creativity to an averaging engine.
the result given, I'm sorry, that's crap

[jocknaethick]

I don't get why anyone would want to outsource what might be creativity to an averaging engine.
the result given, I'm sorry, that's crap

100%...I realise it's not always the case these days, but don't people get into creative and performing arts to....well....you know....be creative and/or perform?