I have been using ChatGPT 3.5 since summer of 2023 to speed up the creation of teaching resources for my (computer science) students. I always need to verify and often edit what it produces, as well as adding relevant references, but it does a pretty good job.

Over Christmas I was stuck with a lyric, I needed the right phrase to finish a verse and couldn’t find something that worked, so I put the problem to ChatGPT. While the answer was not perfect it sent me in a different direction and I ended up creating a better verse than my first attempt.

That set me thinking, could a chatbot actually write reasonable lyrics? So this time I asked it for three verses and a chorus on the theme of the song I had just written. The first response was very cliched, but had the elements I had employed. With a few more prompts to steer it in the right direction it finally came up with something that I liked almost as much as my own lyrics.

So, I thought I’d set it the task of composing something for the March 2024 challenge, just to demonstrate what is possible and perhaps inspire others to experiment when they experience a bit or writer’s block. Here is the conversation:

User: Write a verse and chorus of a song lyric on the topic of clouds

ChatGPT: (Verse) In a sky of blue, where dreams collide, Where whispers dance on the gentle tide, Clouds like cotton, floating high, Painting stories across the endless sky.

(Chorus) Oh, clouds above, with secrets to confide, Whisper to me, in the language of the sky. Drift with me, on this endless ride, Where every cloud holds a tale inside.

User: Can you now write it in the style of a 1970s heavy rock song

ChatGPT (Verse) In the realm of skies where dreams take flight, Whispers echo through the endless night, Clouds like titans, mighty and bold, Their stories etched in silver and gold.

(Chorus) Oh, clouds of mystery, in the heavens they reside, Speak to me, in the language of the tide. Ride with me, on this cosmic high, Where every cloud’s a saga in the sky!

User: Now give it a heavy metal edge

ChatGPT (Verse) In the abyss of skies, where darkness reigns, Whispers of chaos, echoing chains, Clouds like demons, twisted and wild, Their tales of torment, driving us wild.

(Chorus) Oh, clouds of fury, in the tempest they abide, Scream to me, in the language of the tide. Rage with me, on this thunderous ride, Where every cloud’s a nightmare in the sky!

I don’t think anyone will be rushing to record these lyrics, but it does demonstrate how, unlike a search engine, you can guide a chatbot with simple prompts. In fact if you keep refining your prompts by giving it examples or perhaps picking individual sentences out of its previous answer you can get some very helpful material. I use a similar approach for quickly producing additional examples of program code for students and I encourage them to use it to help debug their own code.

I have a feeling that we’ll soon (if not already) hear songs hitting the charts with chatbot written lyrics. As someone with a very cynical view of mass produced pop music I’d dare to suggest we’ll probably never spot the difference. However, for songs that capture real emotion and that indefinable human element that connects with the listener, I don’t think the current generation of AI / machine learning will be able to do that. However, as researchers find ways to introduce empathy into chatbots (see New Scientist magazine, 9^th March 2024) maybe they will start to produce deeper and more engaging lyrics.

However, for now a chatbot makes a great assistant writer if you are stuck for an unusual or tricky rhyme or turn of phrase. And what about the music itself? My only experience so far is that the results are truly awful, so for now at least, music remains a very human driven creation. Long may it remain so.

Richard Hind, Tutor of Digital Technologies (FE and HE).