Manual AI

 

In terms of how we think AI is going to enhance creativity by generating random permutations from which we select what is Art, you can do the same thing just by randomly surfing around to find things to use in whatever you're working on.

The past few weeks I have been trying to shoehorn lyrics into pre-existing music ("Topanga Corral"). This method is typically fraught with possible contrivances--especially if you're not really a singer and you're trying to tell some kind of story.

This can get frustrating and paralyzing because you're trying to make what is better off randomized than linearly constructed.

So in this case, my "data sets" were:

• A YouTube documentary
• A Google search
• A Wikipedia article
• Another song idea ("Shark Tank")
  

Here are the lyrics generated from my "AI":

In the beginning
A lost highway was found
In the world of the neo-noir
Mystery on a VHS

Took a sharp turn
At the roadhouse
When I went back
It was burned down
In a shark tank
For the dark shark
Took a left turn
For a right start

The Topanga Corral
The Topanga Corral
The Topanga Corral...

There are now myriad ways to generate lyrics, which isn't really AI. The main problem is if your only tool is a shoehorn, which means that whatever random collection of words you have, you can only use the ones that work in a musical way, yet have both specific and ambiguous meaning. AI simply gives you too much to work from. This is the general problem with anything that has too many options and variables.