Well this is a premise for a musical. A guy uses an ai to write a tune so catchy the world can’t stop playing it until it becomes so overplayed the world hates it.
Praise from Mr.Hunter S. Thompson for“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” That negative side.... must be the shitty AI music...
Fine piece, Ted. I write novels and find that much of what is being written now, in American fiction at least, reads like it came from AI . That's not the case...yet!...but perhaps will be someday soon. Things like gorgeous description, exploration of the heart, and the use of a setting to display the emotions of the characters within that setting are fading in contemporary fiction. "Yes. No. I don't know." seems to be at the apex of fictional conversation. It's dull. It's everyday. It has little finesse. But, like musicians, novelists will always be here, and some are still writing with real creative verve, a feature unknown to AI. Take care. Many thanks.
Your assessment is, unfortunately, glaringly correct. I lean towards science fiction and haven't found but one or two authors in the past ten years whose work didn't sound like a compilation of woke platitudes. I'll stick with Asimov, Heinlein, Niven and their ilk for reading enjoyment. I'm getting older, so I won't have to waste time and money on uninteresting writing and just re-read the books I've collected for more than fifty years.
Just took a quick look at your Substack. It seems interesting and I will get back to it. I'll be forthright and let you know I don't have any paid subscriptions to on-line blogs or sites, because if I did I'd be penniless. But best of luck, and I hope we can communicate in the future. Back to work for me now, adios.
It would be folly for me to dislike anyone who owns a Dragunov. 7.62x54mm is a particularly stout round. Kidding aside, I have not observed any reason to dislike you, so don't piss me off!!!!! Kidding again. Best of luck with your endeavors, and have a good escape plan for eruptions.
Sturgeon's Law may well be accurate, but being blessed with a not quite fully incomplete set of memories, it seems to me that finding a gratifying read in the 60s, 70s, and 80s wasn't near the crap shoot that is is currently.
Your comment that indicates it's difficult to determine the difference between AI generated "music" and current "music" is spot-on..
It may be - though I don't rightly know - that your "recommendation engine" of that past era was more robust than the current one.
One of my complaints is that machine-based recommendation has not yet really captured what I like, particularly in music. For instance Pandora. Pandora goes for "similar" in terms of style and instrumentation: based on what specific sounds you are hearing. But while I like trumpets, it's true, I like a lot more variety in music than can be characterized by "what sounds am I hearing". There are concepts there that I have, but I don't really listen according to genre.
Because he passed away, I listened to Jeff Beck's "Blow by Blow" straight through for the first time, and discovered that I would have loved it if I had only known about it, but I also don't see any way that any recommendation engine I know about would point me to it.
It's interesting you brought up Pandora. I got an account right after it became mainstream just after the new millennium arrived. After reading about the specifics of their Music Genome Project I decided to find out what the platform could do with seemingly disparate types of music that I enjoy. So I started my original channel with Aldo Nova and proceeded to add seed songs (what they used to call "add variety") from Bela Fleck, Frank Sinatra, and many others. Pandora has managed to find many other artists I'd never heard of that I really like, and music from artists with whom I was familiar, but hadn't heard previously because the songs weren't hits. Many musical gems reside in the unheard regions of regions of albums. I don't know if Pandora would have found Jeff Beck for you, but I actually think if you'd approached it in the same manner as I it probably would have.
Today I primarily listen to Spotify. Whether or not it dies as Ted seems to think, it's a convenient way for me to listen to full albums in my office (the company where I work went 100% remote in 2021) from most of my collection, and others that I can't find or afford. I have a decent stereo down here, though not nearly as good as upstairs in the living room, but if I want to crank it up a bit I can close the door and not bug my wife.
Libor, I'm afraid that question is waaay above my pay grade. Other than knowing that Nicaragua is located on the northern border of Costa Rica I can positively say that I have no idea what your personal surroundings are like, other than they're most likely similar to Panama's, which I know about only because my wife was born and raised in the Canal Zone several years before Jimmy Carter handed it over to the CCP. As far as finding good things to read or good music I imagine that with your access to the internet you can manage. If you don't have and extensive reading collection at home as I do, that looks like your best bet.
One question that emerges from your thesis about normalization of new technologies also might apply to emotions. If so, the pointed questions you ask in closing might be rendered moot. A next generation might simply become socialized into not processing romantic failure in the jazz idiom or as Chopin expressed it.
An even more cynical result would be teaching AI that "this is what heartbreak" sounds like (or raising a sail or a good-natured public humiliation, etc.) and it will come to emulate those emotional states.
After that, the question is whether one train AI to write in the vein of Satie? Perhaps. But the trick will be getting the software to do what Grieg or Miles Davis did: have that initial spark to that sets down a pattern of tones or beats that communicates a particular idea in a novel way that resonates with human experience.
Those who will be raised on AI, won't know or care. It will just be part of their lives. They will never know about or listen to Miles or Grieg and will have no basis for comparison, and if they did, they would be unhappy with the comparison, because it would show the flaws of humanity, and flaws are uncomfortable to those raised on perfection.
"It’s just like the Tin Man from Oz. What’s missing is the heart." – I'm not sure that's the best figure here, given how the Wizard of Oz tells the Tin Man to understand what a heart is: "A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others." So if AI music actually does spread and become familiar, as you describe, then it will have a heart in the Wizard's sense.
As a fan and collector of film composers and their music--from Hugo Friedhofer to Erich Wolfgang Korngold--I find the revelations in this article less surprising than depressing. But they also tie into my 40 years of steady week-end work as a "local musician," accepting gigs from big bands, small groups, country club managers, party-givers, etc. Now such gigs are vanishing along with the acoustic pianos once maintained by approx. 20 clubs in Chicago-Milwaukee and numerous points between. Equally concerning was the disappearance of services like local musicians unions, the monthly tabloid from A.F.M., and even the overnight bankruptcy of IAJE (Internaational Association of Jazz Educators, formerly NAJE). And the passing, not long ago, of the impactful George Wein was also a reminder that Newport in New York (later, JVC Festival) had come to a wrap some time ago. is all of this an accurate reflection of the state of live music? of the business of live music? And, speaking of jazz, of the state of the art?
Sadly religion is a very personal thing ... Funny isn't it, talk like Harry about the white blubber of your family life, talk like Phil Collins about being dumped, talk about alcoholism, drugs, being unfaithful, being ill, believing in ghosts, go on social media and over-share about bunions to cancer .... All that's fine! But mention religion! And it is frowned upon!
I've been accused for years of being artificially intelligent, however I could write a lifeless piece of music like that without thinking very much, too. Thank god... there is a future for me yet.
Hey Ted! I loved your potential theme song for "Honest Broker" so much I ran through a local park in slow motion . . . uh, "avoid clichés like the plague."
Interesting post. Loving The Honest Broker.
I just listened to the AI-created theme song. It's definitely more humane than waterboarding. But don't play it three times in a row.
Well this is a premise for a musical. A guy uses an ai to write a tune so catchy the world can’t stop playing it until it becomes so overplayed the world hates it.
Praise from Mr.Hunter S. Thompson for“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” That negative side.... must be the shitty AI music...
Fine piece, Ted. I write novels and find that much of what is being written now, in American fiction at least, reads like it came from AI . That's not the case...yet!...but perhaps will be someday soon. Things like gorgeous description, exploration of the heart, and the use of a setting to display the emotions of the characters within that setting are fading in contemporary fiction. "Yes. No. I don't know." seems to be at the apex of fictional conversation. It's dull. It's everyday. It has little finesse. But, like musicians, novelists will always be here, and some are still writing with real creative verve, a feature unknown to AI. Take care. Many thanks.
Dude, my ai literally has a “verve” knob. goes to 11.
So right. One has to go back to older writers to find that finesse.
Your assessment is, unfortunately, glaringly correct. I lean towards science fiction and haven't found but one or two authors in the past ten years whose work didn't sound like a compilation of woke platitudes. I'll stick with Asimov, Heinlein, Niven and their ilk for reading enjoyment. I'm getting older, so I won't have to waste time and money on uninteresting writing and just re-read the books I've collected for more than fifty years.
Just took a quick look at your Substack. It seems interesting and I will get back to it. I'll be forthright and let you know I don't have any paid subscriptions to on-line blogs or sites, because if I did I'd be penniless. But best of luck, and I hope we can communicate in the future. Back to work for me now, adios.
It would be folly for me to dislike anyone who owns a Dragunov. 7.62x54mm is a particularly stout round. Kidding aside, I have not observed any reason to dislike you, so don't piss me off!!!!! Kidding again. Best of luck with your endeavors, and have a good escape plan for eruptions.
Sturgeon's Law is "ninety percent of everything is crap". That probably applies to novelists, both present and past.
Ted's theme doesn't sound worse than a lot of the music that reaches my ears, presumably made by humans. Not that it stuck with me.
Sturgeon's Law may well be accurate, but being blessed with a not quite fully incomplete set of memories, it seems to me that finding a gratifying read in the 60s, 70s, and 80s wasn't near the crap shoot that is is currently.
Your comment that indicates it's difficult to determine the difference between AI generated "music" and current "music" is spot-on..
It may be - though I don't rightly know - that your "recommendation engine" of that past era was more robust than the current one.
One of my complaints is that machine-based recommendation has not yet really captured what I like, particularly in music. For instance Pandora. Pandora goes for "similar" in terms of style and instrumentation: based on what specific sounds you are hearing. But while I like trumpets, it's true, I like a lot more variety in music than can be characterized by "what sounds am I hearing". There are concepts there that I have, but I don't really listen according to genre.
Because he passed away, I listened to Jeff Beck's "Blow by Blow" straight through for the first time, and discovered that I would have loved it if I had only known about it, but I also don't see any way that any recommendation engine I know about would point me to it.
It's interesting you brought up Pandora. I got an account right after it became mainstream just after the new millennium arrived. After reading about the specifics of their Music Genome Project I decided to find out what the platform could do with seemingly disparate types of music that I enjoy. So I started my original channel with Aldo Nova and proceeded to add seed songs (what they used to call "add variety") from Bela Fleck, Frank Sinatra, and many others. Pandora has managed to find many other artists I'd never heard of that I really like, and music from artists with whom I was familiar, but hadn't heard previously because the songs weren't hits. Many musical gems reside in the unheard regions of regions of albums. I don't know if Pandora would have found Jeff Beck for you, but I actually think if you'd approached it in the same manner as I it probably would have.
Today I primarily listen to Spotify. Whether or not it dies as Ted seems to think, it's a convenient way for me to listen to full albums in my office (the company where I work went 100% remote in 2021) from most of my collection, and others that I can't find or afford. I have a decent stereo down here, though not nearly as good as upstairs in the living room, but if I want to crank it up a bit I can close the door and not bug my wife.
?
And, Everybody said, never do they mutter, exclaim, insist, implore, plead, growl, etc. Gone is the nuance.
Libor, I'm afraid that question is waaay above my pay grade. Other than knowing that Nicaragua is located on the northern border of Costa Rica I can positively say that I have no idea what your personal surroundings are like, other than they're most likely similar to Panama's, which I know about only because my wife was born and raised in the Canal Zone several years before Jimmy Carter handed it over to the CCP. As far as finding good things to read or good music I imagine that with your access to the internet you can manage. If you don't have and extensive reading collection at home as I do, that looks like your best bet.
One question that emerges from your thesis about normalization of new technologies also might apply to emotions. If so, the pointed questions you ask in closing might be rendered moot. A next generation might simply become socialized into not processing romantic failure in the jazz idiom or as Chopin expressed it.
An even more cynical result would be teaching AI that "this is what heartbreak" sounds like (or raising a sail or a good-natured public humiliation, etc.) and it will come to emulate those emotional states.
After that, the question is whether one train AI to write in the vein of Satie? Perhaps. But the trick will be getting the software to do what Grieg or Miles Davis did: have that initial spark to that sets down a pattern of tones or beats that communicates a particular idea in a novel way that resonates with human experience.
Those who will be raised on AI, won't know or care. It will just be part of their lives. They will never know about or listen to Miles or Grieg and will have no basis for comparison, and if they did, they would be unhappy with the comparison, because it would show the flaws of humanity, and flaws are uncomfortable to those raised on perfection.
Well, I hope you don't use that as your theme! Seems very generic and doesn't match the creativity of your work.
"It’s just like the Tin Man from Oz. What’s missing is the heart." – I'm not sure that's the best figure here, given how the Wizard of Oz tells the Tin Man to understand what a heart is: "A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others." So if AI music actually does spread and become familiar, as you describe, then it will have a heart in the Wizard's sense.
Bravo!!👏Well-elaborated and said!
"if I ever switch careers and become a meteorologist, this would work nicely for a rainy day weather forecast"
Ha!
As a fan and collector of film composers and their music--from Hugo Friedhofer to Erich Wolfgang Korngold--I find the revelations in this article less surprising than depressing. But they also tie into my 40 years of steady week-end work as a "local musician," accepting gigs from big bands, small groups, country club managers, party-givers, etc. Now such gigs are vanishing along with the acoustic pianos once maintained by approx. 20 clubs in Chicago-Milwaukee and numerous points between. Equally concerning was the disappearance of services like local musicians unions, the monthly tabloid from A.F.M., and even the overnight bankruptcy of IAJE (Internaational Association of Jazz Educators, formerly NAJE). And the passing, not long ago, of the impactful George Wein was also a reminder that Newport in New York (later, JVC Festival) had come to a wrap some time ago. is all of this an accurate reflection of the state of live music? of the business of live music? And, speaking of jazz, of the state of the art?
No joy in mudville, mighty AI has struck clams.
Nice one again mate ... AI is so scary for real writers - particularly those who do it to make a living... i wrote this a while ago about journalistic fears ... https://leighgbankspreservationsociety.blog/2021/02/16/bill-of-human-rights-for-machines-has-me-quaking-in-my-journalistic-bots/
Don't write like a madman - or a robot! Write like a human being with a quil instead of a mouse!
Sadly religion is a very personal thing ... Funny isn't it, talk like Harry about the white blubber of your family life, talk like Phil Collins about being dumped, talk about alcoholism, drugs, being unfaithful, being ill, believing in ghosts, go on social media and over-share about bunions to cancer .... All that's fine! But mention religion! And it is frowned upon!
Well, the song sounds like EDM popcorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjxNnqTcHhg
I've been accused for years of being artificially intelligent, however I could write a lifeless piece of music like that without thinking very much, too. Thank god... there is a future for me yet.
My favorite part of the AI-created theme song was the fade out.
🤭 I kept waiting for the elevator to arrive at my floor!
Hey Ted! I loved your potential theme song for "Honest Broker" so much I ran through a local park in slow motion . . . uh, "avoid clichés like the plague."
That's a jaunty tune. That sort of sound is commonplace in commercials now and I had no idea where it was coming from. Thanks for the info.