“Can AI Write a Mediocre Musical?”
A second AI-webseries produced by New Musicals Inc.
(Scroll down to see the first webseries.)
In our last webseries, we proved that AI can write a terrible musical. The question is: can it write a mediocre one? Our hope for the series is to explore actual collaboration with AI. What happens if we try to instruct AI, and use it as a creative partner?
HINT: You might want to watch the final finished video first, then follow the fascinating creative twists and turns as AI contorts an original idea about body-swapping into a much rawer, grungier piece about a controversial tormented performance artist.
Do you want to hear MORE about new musicals from New Musicals Inc? Just fill in the form below, let us know what you’re interested in, and we’ll keep you informed!
An Introduction to “CAN AI WRITE A MEDIOCRE MUSICAL? “
Join New Musicals Inc. as we attempt to collaborate with AI, pushing it to its limits as a creative collaborator. We turn the camera on our Executive Director as you watch him in real time try (and fail) (and succeed) (and epic fail) to work with AI as a true collaborator. In this introduction, we explore what we’re trying to accomplish, and discuss the pros, cons, and creative ethics of working with our bot overlord as we create a brand new work for the musical theatre.
THE ART OF DEFIANCE
The finished musical, written and performed by AI.
Torn between raw artistic expression and commercial viability, an emerging performance artist must decide whether to compromise their provocative political exhibition, as citywide protests intensify.
This is the final product, written by AI with a little help from humans. The voices and singers on this video are generated by AI (so the genders are inconsistent).
GOT AN IDEA FOR A MUSICAL, AI?
Highlights of the first tortured work session.
Highlights of my first work session with AI. Zipping over 40 minutes of character development. How do we go from a story about a body-swapping magic to a one about protests during a political artist controversial art exhibition?
GOT AN IDEA FOR A MUSICAL, AI?
The complete first work session.
An hour-long work session with AI, in which an idea about body-swapping morphs into one about a controversial art show which is sparking protests and social unrest. After you watch the highlights, I encourage you to watch this entire work session; it’s fascinating interplay between human and AI; watching human mind take cues from AI and turn them into viable conflict.
We have an outline for a mediocre AI musical
I work very hard to get AI to deepen the outline to include conflict, theme, and interpersonal relationships. AI’s not very insightful…it’s a bit of a struggle.
Cleaning up the mess that AI made.
Cleaning up formatting, moving a couple things, clarifying action. Some beats need fixing; I’ll do that at the next step.
Shh, don’t tell Chat GPT we’re texting CoPilot.
Highlights from the work session.
Shhh, don’t tell Chat GPT — I look at CoPilot, to see if its ideas are any better. CoPilot gets off to a bad start. I toss out ten lousy ideas and one good one before honing in on a promising story about a bank heist gone wrong. It takes nearly an hour. Here’s an episode of the highlights.
Shh, don’t tell Chat GPT we’re texting CoPilot.
The complete work session.
Our full unedited work session with Chat GPT — I look at CoPilot, to see if its ideas are any better. CoPilot gets off to a bad start. I toss out ten lousy ideas and one good one before honing in on a promising story about a bank heist gone wrong.
Bad dialogue. Really bad dialogue.
Chat GPT struggles to write dialogue. I try to get it to expand beats, or add subtext, or write in the style of contemporary American playwrights, and all I get is stinky, wooden unuseable dialogue.
Can CoPilot write mediocre dialogue?
My standards of mediocrity are slipping. Can CoPilot do any better at writing dialogue? Ugh; no…it’s just as bad, and in fact CoPilot gets obstinant and refuses to rewrite some lines I ask it to. I’m ready to give up on the whole project.
Turning bad dialogue into terrible lyrics.
With a sigh, I input GPT’s dreadful dialogue hoping for acceptable lyrics. Terrible terrible lyrics. I’m getting ready to give up.
The humans take over.
I accept the limitations of my bot-collaborator, and rewrite the dialogue myself.
More terrible lyrics! How bad can they get?
Highlights
I feed the Rough Draft dialogue into GPT and get it to squeeze out mediocre lyrics. It reverts to musical theatre tropes (solos, singing directly to the audience)…I try to get it to use the lyric as action (over and over again). I give up. Highly entertaining episode. (The first video is just highlights of the session: the second video is the entire work session - not for the faint of heart!)
More human intervention, this time with lyrics.
I can’t help myself…and revise the lyric a little bit. Setting myself up for more disappointment. Will I never learn?
AI’s music saves the day!
AI creates some powerful music…and saves the musical!
More episodes to follow.
More mediocre dialogue, followed by terrible lyrics. Some hilarious sessions watching poor Scott trying to get AI to rhyme, along with some triumphant sessions, especially in the creation of music. The final episode concludes with a discussion about the pros and cons of working with AI, and a peer into the future.
Meanwhile, please enjoy our entire first webseries (below), in which our standards were…not EVEN mediocre.
“Can AI Write a Musical?”
Unveiling a groundbreaking webseries produced by New Musicals Inc.
New Musicals Inc. is thrilled to announce the launch of its captivating multi-part webseries, “Can AI Write a Musical?” In this bold exploration, musical theatre artists collaborate with Artificial Intelligence to create an entirely new musical narrative. Join us on an exhilarating journey as we witness the fusion of art and technology, showcasing the struggles, triumphs, and experimental creativity that arise from this groundbreaking collaboration.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of North Hollywood, “Can AI Write a Musical?” invites audiences to delve into the fascinating world of musical theatre production. Through an innovative partnership with AI tools accessible to the average netizen, viewers will witness firsthand the creative process unfold in real-time. From crafting original stories and dialogue to composing lyrics and music, this series pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of musical theatre.
Throughout the series, audiences will be captivated by the journey of discovery as musical theatre artists and AI collaborate to bring a new musical to life. Titled “Even Bumbling Idiots Can Make a Difference,” the musical follows the story of three unlikely heroes who find themselves in a battle against an AI being to save the world. With its compelling narrative and dynamic score, this AI-generated musical promises to captivate audiences and challenge preconceived notions of what AI can achieve in the realm of storytelling.
Join us on this extraordinary journey as we explore the potential of AI in musical theatre production. From the struggles and triumphs of collaboration to the final unveiling of the AI-generated musical, “Can AI Write a Musical?” promises to be a groundbreaking exploration unlike anything seen before.
Note: This press release was written by Artificial Intelligence.
Do you want to hear MORE about new musicals from New Musicals Inc? Just fill in the form below, let us know what you’re interested in, and we’ll keep you informed!
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #1:
In this fascinating multi-part series, New Musicals Inc. pushes Artificial Intelligence to create a new musical. Watch us as we struggle and triumph and experiment in a collaboration with AI tools available to the average netizen. Join us in our journey to see whether AI can write original stories, dialogue, lyrics and music. “Can AI Write a Musical?” an exploration at New Musicals Inc.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #2:
Can Artificial Intelligence write lyrics? Before we go any further in pushing AI to write a musical, we test out whether Chat GPT can construct a song lyric based on a prose we feed it. The answer surprised us!
Join us as we prompt AI to “Write song lyrics.”
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #3:
Can AI cook up original stories? Will they be at all worth telling? Watch us as we put Chat GPT through its paces to write a storyline for a potential new musical.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #4:
How is AI at writing dialogue? We’ve seen it write competent prose…can it write conversation for characters in a musical? Join us as we try to get AI to write dialogue for our show.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #5:
We’re not very impressed with AI’s musical theatre lyrics. Join us as we tweak our prompts to try to get better results. And don’t get us started about “near rhyme.”
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #6:
One of our favorite episodes of the series. Our venerable host, Scott Guy, loses it when AI plays back some of the worst music EVER. Seriously…it’s just awful. You have to hear it.
If you’re going to watch only one episode in this series, this is the one to watch.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #7:
Our musical is in trouble! We can’t get AI to write a decent melody. In this episode we try out multiple software which is supposed to turn lyrics into melodies. Not so much.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #8:
We finally use AI to crank out a song. It’s really bad.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #9:
At Chat GPT’s suggestion, we hack around with a really old software program from 2002 which saves our musical. Sort of. We kinda cheat in this episode.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #10:
AI suddenly writes three new songs for our musical, in about ten minutes. Join us as we prompt AI to create three new song lyrics based on some dialogue we feed it.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #11:
AI has done its work. Now we import the resulting MIDI files into notation software and grind through the formatting process. We look forward to the day when AI can do this part for us.
PROMPT #12A (Before You Watch Final Video): Can Ya Sing? Can Ya Dance?
Since we began creating this series, AI technology has advanced SO far that we started to ask…can AI sing for us? Can AI act out the parts? This video eavesdrops on some of our exploration using AI to create actors’ and singers’ voices. We know, we know, you’re dying of curiosity: wouldn’t blame you if you skipped this episode and jumped straight into viewing the final video itself.
CAN AI WRITE A MUSICAL? PROMPT #12:
It’s finished at last. AI has written a musical. AI came up with the original idea, and wrote dialogue, lyrics, and music. Our final prompt — We ask A.I. to perform the entire musical, including stage directions, dialogue….and SONGS? This is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
The question now is: “Is it any good?” You be the judge.
PROMPT #13: NOW WHAT?
AI’s created a musical. We look back over the process and chat about where AI stumbled, and where it succeeded…and what that means for writers today. Because for better or for worse, AI can create musicals. It’s up to us to spy on our digitial competition, and do better than it can!