Artificial Intelligence Writes About Music

In the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of fuzz around the public beta of ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that can write whole texts. People are constantly experimenting and posting screenshots about the programme's impressive capabilities.

Naturally, I was curious if ChatGPT could also write compelling texts about music. So I used my existing OpenAI account (I also tried Dall-E 2 intensively before) and used the programme to create descriptive paragraphs about previously curated songs.

Here's how I went about it:

The first sentence of the prompt was always "Can you write me a short paragraph with the following parameters:" followed by specific categories and keywords. I used the existing descriptions of the songs to distil the keywords as they accurately reflect my personal opinion.

I also always used the first result that ChatGPT provided and didn't make any alterations to the prompts or texts.

Al Pride – Small Heart

Result: Al Pride, hailing from Switzerland, is an indie-pop band that stands out with their innovative sound. Their song "Small Heart" is a groovy, pumping track that showcases their impressive talents. The brass section adds a unique flavor to the mix, and the spoken-word part questioning consumerism is a clever touch. Overall, the band strikes a perfect balance between catchiness and substance, making them a must-listen for fans of the genre.

Nola Kin – Not What You Think

Result: Nola Kin is a female artist from Switzerland who creates music in the folk and pop genres. Her song "Not What You Think" is described as being comforting, warm, smokey, soulful, and vulnerable. In a quote about the song, Nola Kin says that her songs are like coming home and are like a warm hug after a long and hard walk across her history. It seems that Nola Kin's music is very personal and reflective, and she uses it to connect with herself on a deeper level. Her music is comforting and provides a sense of warmth and soulfulness that is hard to find in today's fast-paced world.

Julien Bracht – Across the Ocean

Result: Julien Bracht is a male artist from Berlin, Germany who is known for his pumping, vast, and thoughtful techno sound that is inspired by the trance and techno of the late 90s and early 2000s. His song "Across The Ocean" is a perfect example of this, with its slightly nostalgic and melancholic vibe that is both warm yet distant. Despite this, the track is also playful, making it a true delight to listen to.

Betterov – Bis zum Ende

Result: Betterov is a male artist hailing from Germany. His song Bis zum Ende is an indie rock track with post-punk vibes. The fast-paced tune is sung in German and explores the doubts, fears, and anxieties of adolescence. Despite the heavy subject matter, Betterov manages to turn the negativity into optimism, creating an exhilarating and breathless listening experience that is truly captivating.

Bahnhofbuffet Chancental – Lösche

Result: Bahnhofbuffet Chancental is a band hailing from Switzerland that is known for their unique blend of grunge and indie rock. Their song Lösche is a loud and weird track that features excessive use of autotune on the vocal track. The band is known for pushing the boundaries of their genres, and Lösche is a prime example of this. The shattering drums and soaring guitars create an exhilarating listening experience that breaks with conformity. Bahnhofbuffet Chancental is a band that is not afraid to take risks and shatter expectations with their music.

The results are simultaneously impressive and sobering. The paragraphs by ChatGPT feel quite impersonal and technical in their descriptions. Sometimes, the result is pretty good, for example, for Al Pride, and sometimes, it seems just to be a repetitive chain of information (Julien Bracht).

An interesting observation lies in the text about Nola Kin's Not What You Think. On the one hand, ChatGPT refrains from making an explicit assumption after using the artist's quote in the prompt: