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.
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.
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.
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."
#Muzak might be called #Muzaik. The recording industry made its fortune on the backs of slaves with soul, just ask the Artist Formerly Known As... . And as for John Williams, I saw Star Wars new in the theater in 1977, as a 9 year old, so when at 13 or 14, I found Holst’s the Planets, I just thought Williams to be a clever arranger at best. So tell me I’m wrong.
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.
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.
?
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.
And, Everybody said, never do they mutter, exclaim, insist, implore, plead, growl, etc. Gone is the nuance.
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!
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.
#Muzak might be called #Muzaik. The recording industry made its fortune on the backs of slaves with soul, just ask the Artist Formerly Known As... . And as for John Williams, I saw Star Wars new in the theater in 1977, as a 9 year old, so when at 13 or 14, I found Holst’s the Planets, I just thought Williams to be a clever arranger at best. So tell me I’m wrong.