I wrote a song using AI
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It’s scary
In general, whenever something appears with an unknown potential limit, it seems scary. This phenomenon can be your child, your new classmate, or artificial intelligence. Usually, we think about the far future. For example, the robots in ’80s science fiction movies may not be seen in real life even until 2050, but the whole element of fear comes from the fact that we can’t be certain! Maybe killer robots will walk the streets tomorrow. It is the uncertainty and lack of complete control that make it scary.
But there’s a more real fear
Not the fear of robots murdering me, but the fear of robots making me obsolete and feel useless. The fear of losing a job, of them doing better “human” things like writing poetry and painting than I.
There is not much to say about the first case; it’s fair. We need to control the speed of AI development as a species and not take the next step until we’re certain that this current step is firm and reliable. That is beyond the control of most of us, and we just have to hope that things (politicians, AI companies, AI ethics specialists, etc.) work out.
Certainly! Here’s a revised version:
When it comes to the second scenario, there’s a proverb that goes, “Artificial intelligence won’t steal your job, but someone who knows how to leverage it definitely will.” Personally, I tend to be cautious when confronted with new technologies and find it challenging to fully embrace them. Whether it’s dealing with Instagram and the newer Threads app, or diving into the realm of artificial intelligence, GitLab, and ChatGPT, I can’t help but feel a sense of defensiveness. It’s a reminder that if I don’t adapt quickly enough, someone who is more open to these advancements might just surpass me in the race.
Of course! Recently, I practiced being receptive, so I attempted to compose a song with a little help from AI. I had watched a documentary about the French Riviera and how it was once a secluded region, but over time, it was discovered and transformed into a paradise for Parisian painters and the bourgeois. It reminded me of my own city, which bears resemblance to that transformation. On the other hand, I had a drum and bass loop with some strange eastern chords that had been sitting on my desktop for a while, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
So, I began writing! I wrote in Farsi (my native language), whatever came to mind as I listened to the loop and thought of the Riviera and my town. Then I translated it into English using Google Translate. I fed it to ChatGPT to turn it into a song, making it rhyme and become something singable. Naturally, it wasn’t very good initially, as is often the case. AI performs artistic tasks in a rather artificial (pun intended) and clichéd manner. However, I haven’t tried the paid or premium versions, so I cannot speak to their quality.
First, it needed some revisions. I changed it to make it more uniform. From there, I opened up Canva and used the AI image creator. I prompted “scenes from the Persian Riviera,” and it gave me some cool photos. I chose one of them.
The result was a five-minute song, almost half of which was done by artificial intelligence. You can hear it here. Other than that, it was a good exercise for me to learn that collaboration and inspiration are not necessarily theft and laziness, although I have to be careful since it can easily turn into those. The line is very thin.