Songwriting with ChatGPT

[Paulie]

I read a post this morning that had a great comment by Minoruchan, using the phrase "one inch ahead of darkness." So I gave ChatGPT-4 the following prompt:

Create song lyrics in the style of Pink Floyd that would be appropriate for a song with the title "one inch ahead of darkness."

As someone that really stinks at writing lyrics (mega kudos to those of you blessed with that gift), I am quite impressed with the response. One could easily spend a lot of time trying this out using different artists and styles in the prompt.

Here's what ChatGPT-4 came up with.


(Verse 1)
In the shadows of the moonlit sky,
Where the sun has ceased to shine,
One inch ahead of darkness, I tread,
In this labyrinth of space and time.

(Pre-Chorus)
And as the echoes fade away,
I'm searching for a ray of light,
In the distance, a glimmer of hope,
Guiding me through this endless night.

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness,
I march on through the storm,
A cosmic dance with destiny,
As the tides of time transform.

(Verse 2)
The walls of sanity, they crumble down,
In the silence of the void,
But as the embers of my dreams ignite,
The darkness I'll avoid.

(Pre-Chorus)
And as the echoes fade away,
I'm searching for a ray of light,
In the distance, a glimmer of hope,
Guiding me through this endless night.

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness,
I march on through the storm,
A cosmic dance with destiny,
As the tides of time transform.

(Bridge)
In the vast expanse of the cosmos,
I wander, lost in space,
A traveler bound by fate's embrace,
Destined to chase the human race.

(Guitar Solo)

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness,
I march on through the storm,
A cosmic dance with destiny,
As the tides of time transform.

(Outro)
And with every step I take,
A new dawn on the horizon breaks,
One inch ahead of darkness, I stand,
In this eternal cosmic play.

[superblonde]

These lyrics are better than anything Taylor Swift has written in the past twenty years (that is a provable fact). However the popularity of lyrical lines is in the rhythm and A.I. currently can't comprehend rhythm and likely will not for many years because the A.I. is only as smart as what it consumes on the internet and there is no availability of rhythm/meter information in the digital world, so it is a good bet that A.I. won't create songs anytime soon.

[Casey H]

These lyrics are better than anything Taylor Swift has written in the past twenty years (that is a provable fact).

Really? A provable fact? I'd like to see that proof.

These lyrics are very good or at least have a lot of good, usable parts. They are very abstract, no story line of any kind. However, in the late 60s and early 70s that was much of the norm. Paulie asked for a la Pink Floyd and it worked quite well for that. I think ChatGPT can be very useful for finding those missing words or phrases you are stuck for when writing. Or giving you a title idea to work on. But be careful. ChatGPT can draw from the entire internet so there is no guarantee that there is no plagiarism. I wouldn't take a whole song from there but words here and there are fair game.

Casey

[Paulie]

I'm impressed that in seconds GPT4 took only a title and created an entire song. I could easily spend time tweaking prompts to improve it, and I'm sure an experienced lyricist could tweak this in a single session into something great. Just for grins, I gave GPT4 the same prompt, but asked for a song in the style of Taylor Swift:

"one inch ahead of darkness."

(Verse 1)
I was chasing sunsets, every day and night
Looking for the colors, where the stars meet the light
But the shadows kept on creeping, whispering my fears
I found solace in the darkness, but the dawn was always near

(Pre-Chorus)
And I'll keep moving forward, I'll take it step by step
With every tear I'm shedding, I'll find a way to mend
I'll face the shadows bravely, I won't let them take me down
I'll dance on the edge of darkness, where my true self can be found

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll keep on running free
With every step I'm taking, I'm closer to being me
In the twilight of my memories, I'll find my strength to carry on
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll rise before the dawn

(Verse 2)
As I wander through this journey, there's a ghost that follows me
A reflection of my past, a broken symphony
But I'll break the chains that bind me, I'll find a brand-new start
For the sun will rise again, and mend my shattered heart

(Pre-Chorus)
And I'll keep moving forward, I'll take it step by step
With every tear I'm shedding, I'll find a way to mend
I'll face the shadows bravely, I won't let them take me down
I'll dance on the edge of darkness, where my true self can be found

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll keep on running free
With every step I'm taking, I'm closer to being me
In the twilight of my memories, I'll find my strength to carry on
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll rise before the dawn

(Bridge)
And when the night is darkest, and all hope seems lost
I'll find my courage, no matter what the cost
For within my heart, a fire burns so bright
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll find my guiding light

(Chorus)
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll keep on running free
With every step I'm taking, I'm closer to being me
In the twilight of my memories, I'll find my strength to carry on
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll rise before the dawn

(Outro)
Now I stand before the sunrise, with my head held high
For I've conquered all my demons, and I'm ready to touch the sky
One inch ahead of darkness, I'll find my destiny
One step closer to the person, I'm truly meant to be

[AlanHall]

Pretty amazing that the same prompt, modified only by 'in the style of' can result in such vastly different results!
I watched Michael's Taxi TV about the chatGPT and am eager to try for myself (haven't done so yet). Titles, lyric suggestions, what else? This could be a goldmine... or a minefield

[3Seas]

Race to the economic ecology ruin?

If there is any one thing legislation should do regarding AI use and output generation it should be labeling or other means of identifying AI use and output that the typical consumer of the final product will know.
But more importantly, such identification is needed for proper analysis of the, so to say, evolution and use of AI across industries. Without this, no other proposal or bill has the verifiable information needed to justify its need.

Here is why:

in the topics of copyrights, patents, and trademarks (Intellectual Property Rights) it is important to look at the spirit and intent of what and why such laws came to be implemented.
This is actually more important than any verbiage of such laws, for it is the spirit and intent of the creation of these laws that is paramount, and not so easy to manipulate the legal meaning to make them out to be a distortion.
It's a first-day Business Law 101 lesson.

To emphasize the following. How many musicians would give up the pursuit of their creative works for profit should AI technology in essence shut them out for a price they cannot compete with?

Intellectual Property Rights were created to protect people's right to profit from their works. That is the fundamental spirit and intent of Intellectual Property Rights. This extends to the economic ecology of industries composed of competition and/or teamwork among the individuals participating.

Intellectual property rights were not created to give such rights to a monkey taking a selfie (web search it) or any other non-human entity.
The benefactor of the intellectual Property law, given the spirit & intent, is HUMAN. You could say, Of, For, and BY Humans!

Of course, if there is no requirement to label or specify what AI was used, then welcome to the wild wild world (formerly West) of whatever you can get away with before an honest sheriff is hired to correct the economic ecology for the benefit of humans. web search Yellowstone wolves

There is one more note here: ChatGPT training set involved the violation of intellectual property law in a very large way. It's beyond fair use and this is made clear by the landmine real examples that have been generated and beginning to rise lawsuits of various types (web search).

For Taxi Members and others, I recommend caution with directly using such elements generated by AI and not just AI but caution also with other audio elements such as loops, sound files, etc. from outside sources. as you may not be the first to use them and that may result in being copyright flagged.

So that leaves what? Apply a reasonable and safe amount of your human creativity!

Note: this post was written using Grammarly only as a proofreader as my three-finger typing, spelling, and grammar punctuation suck.

[Paulie]

Thank you for sharing your perspective on the importance of AI labeling and the relationship between AI-generated content and intellectual property rights. While I understand the concerns you've expressed, I would like to offer an alternative viewpoint.

Firstly, the idea of mandating AI labeling is certainly worth considering. It is true that transparency can help consumers make informed decisions and provide valuable data for understanding AI's impact across industries. However, the focus on labeling might not be sufficient to address the broader implications of AI on creativity and intellectual property.

When it comes to the spirit and intent of intellectual property rights, it is essential to recognize that these laws have evolved over time to adapt to new technologies and societal changes. While the fundamental goal of protecting creators' rights to profit from their works remains, the interpretation of these laws has shifted to accommodate new forms of expression and innovation.

As AI becomes more sophisticated and capable of producing creative content, it may be necessary to reconsider the boundaries of intellectual property rights to account for this new paradigm. Instead of focusing solely on human creators, we might explore ways to balance the interests of human creators, AI developers, and the broader public. This could involve acknowledging the unique collaborative potential between humans and AI and considering new mechanisms for attributing and rewarding both human and AI-generated contributions.

Regarding ChatGPT and potential intellectual property violations, it is important to note that AI developers, like OpenAI, are constantly refining their models and working to address these concerns. Ensuring that AI models comply with intellectual property laws and respect creators' rights is a shared responsibility between developers, users, and regulatory authorities.

Lastly, while it is prudent for creators to exercise caution when using AI-generated content and other external sources, it is also important to embrace the innovative potential of AI as a tool to augment human creativity. By fostering a more collaborative and adaptive approach, we can work together to navigate the challenges posed by AI and create a future that benefits all stakeholders.

=================

(note: this entire response above was written by ChatGPT for given the prompt: "Analyze the following text and provide a politely worded rebuttal that counters the author's overall message." We are looking at the very tippy top tip of the AI iceberg.)

[3Seas]

Thank you Paulie,

As I read the response you posted (without having read the note) I felt something was off, a subtle non human bias. I have some understanding how this LLM (Large Language Model) works . This in part due to a video from Steven Wolfram of how ChatGPT works. Then I read the note. I still felt something was off. I didn't see the response you posted until just before this weeks Taxi TV and afterward I got busy with other things but youtube was still running and next up was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_78DM8fG6E - The Inside Story of ChatGPT’s Astonishing Potential | Greg Brockman | TED. (~4 days old)

I wasn't really listening to it or aware of who it was. I was in the other room and outside (feeding cats) but I just so happened to catch something from the video at the right moment where Greg Brockman was saying something very similar, too similar to the response you posted. I have been writing "OpenAI" as "not-OpenAI" as they are no longer "Open" and this a change from getting something in the order of $10 Billion from Microsoft. And now I know why they closed it up.

They have added the ability to easily apply subtle bias. There is no grey area evolving regarding intellectual property rights as the response suggests. Otherwise I'd be able to enter search requirements into google and copyright the output without any further manipulation on my part (data bases can be copyrighted but that may become conditional regarding AI creations not allowed copyright). Note: Google search uses AI and very anti-productive when doing a search on two different computers for the same search input and getting very different results when you are trying to find the same thing.

All this is, in part, what the hoopla is about regarding a 6 month mortarium, disinformation. Now I know it can be very subtle and intentional.

I have no intention on using ChatGPT and if I do it will be totally for silly entertainment. I know ChatGPT is setup to be learning from all the user query/request input. I don't want to contribute to improving the illusion of it and considering who is financially benefiting from using other's know without their knowledge

I saw where someone told ChatGPT that it was going to crash ChatGPT. as the back and forth quickly evolved ChatGPT started threatening the person that it would destroy the persons life in different ways. It reminded me of the movie Eagle Eye.

Even with all this, I don't support the drive for a moratorium on LLM AI development. There is a race and there are cheaters who should not get any more opportunities such as what a moratorium would allow. And just as there are crashes in car races, the public needs to see the AI crashes so to know never to bow down to it.

Going full circle here, there are AI incorporated Music Production tools such as some IZotope tools, Steinberg Tools, Unison tools and certainly more, and more on the way. A lot of these are as a creative assist, not a creative lead.

Respect the music industry economic ecology, apply a safe and reasonable amount of real human creativity to avoid the AI race to ruin of the human creative spirit.

Permission for AI developers to use peoples data is going to happen, perhaps even at a price. The wild Wild world is going to get a sheriff, maybe sooner than some think.