ChatGPT Writes a Protest Song About the Ukraine War

Can artificial intelligence (AI) find the right message for ending the war?

[Note: This is a test, only a test. Reality is much harder to figure out.]

Maybe one day we’ll just send in armed robots to fight over territory and natural resources. Until then, we’ll have to settle for the latest artificial intelligence device - ChatGPT - to provide some patriotic fervour.

ChatGPT is an online chatbot that interacts with humans. We can ask it anything. It’s a large language model (LLM) that’s programmed to understand our language and generate reasonable responses by digging into Big Data.

It’s crazy fast. And it spits out facts, sometimes fiction, like a jazzed up Jeopardy brainiac. For me, ChatGPT is just a damn good research assistant.

Computer Simulated Songwriter for Peace

While others worry about the new dangers of AI overwhelming human control, I fret about the old farts fomenting proxy wars that kill those caught in the middle of a global economic shake down.

So I wanted to seek out the power of AI to write a protest song. But first, I asked ChatGPT: “What is the purpose or function of antiwar and protest songs?”. I wasn’t sure if the computers and I were on the same page.

ChatGPT is a no-nonsense worker. It gives deadpan answers.

The purpose or function of antiwar and protest songs is to use music as a means of expressing dissent and promoting social and political change. Through lyrics, melody, and rhythm, protest songs can inspire and motivate individuals to take action on important issues, such as war, social injustice, and political corruption.

Correct, but not too inspirational.

I was searching for a little more heart and soul from Big Data. How can I conjure up a current protest song when the AI depends on all the past efforts of humans. (FYI: For now ChatGPT data only extends to 2021.)

My next move was to ask ChatGPT the following: Write a protest song in the style of the 1960s about the Ukraine war? And give a suggestion for a title.

Introducing my first collaborative effort with a co-songwriter: Until the War is Done.

I did ask the machine to write out a chord progression, but it was far too placid for a protest song. So I wrote the music to satisfy my own style and include a bit of emotive feeling that the AI lacks.

Until the War is Done
Lyrics by ChatGPT
Music by Rick Scobi

Verse 1:
There's a war raging on, far away from home
In Ukraine, families are torn apart and all alone
Brothers fighting brothers, sisters fighting sisters
All because of greed and power, a world gone sinister

Chorus:
We won't stand by, we won't let it go
We'll sing out loud, until the whole world knows
War is not the answer, peace is the way
We'll fight for justice, every night and day

Verse 2:
Children are crying, families are dying
A generation lost, to a war that's never-ending
We need to come together, to make a change
We need to speak up, and break these chains

Chorus:
We won't stand by, we won't let it go
We'll sing out loud, until the whole world knows
War is not the answer, peace is the way
We'll fight for justice, every night and day

Verse 3:
We'll march in the streets, we'll raise our voices high
We'll make them hear us, until the end of time
We won't let them win, we won't let them rule
We'll stand together, and break all the rules

Chorus:
We won't stand by, we won't let it go
We'll sing out loud, until the whole world knows
War is not the answer, peace is the way
We'll fight for justice, every night and day

Outro:
We'll keep on singing, until the world is free
We'll keep on fighting, for humanity
We'll never give up, until the war is done
And we can all live in peace, as one.

What’s My Interpretation of the AI Version?

Is artificial intelligence dependent on humans or does it synthesize its own creations? At this early stage, it seems like it sways towards the humans. Not totally unexpected for a machine that will constantly learn from more and more input.

Here are some of my insights and interpretations of the ChatGPT song:

• Salient Title - I think the title is outstanding. It arises from one line in the song and it’s better than anything I might have come up with on my own. (Note: ChatGPT is very good with offering interesting headlines and titles).

• Universal Themes - Since the machine learning relies on Big Data, it comes as no surprise to find many universal themes used in the song: power, greed, come together and speak up. All still valid in context.

• Main Message - War is not the answer, peace is the way. I guess humans have been pounding this message since we could stand on two legs and go off to fight somewhere.

• Lamentable Insights - It is sad that a “generation lost” and a “war that’s never-ending” are so common to our history that the AI picks it up as a cultural legacy.

• Disorderly Conduct - My biggest surprise was to find the phrase “We’ll stand together, and break all the rules”. It signals that dissent is a strong elixir to fight for a common cause. The key problem is the past versus present attitude of Americans. Are we now able to summon up enough courage and guts to ‘break rules’ and suffer the consequences. The Covid-19 period lockdowns and anti-vaccine slurs suggest we are a long way from a unified stance.

• Ode to John Lennon - The last line of the AI song “And we can all live in peace, as one” seems like it’s taken from Lennon’s song Imagine, which says “And the world will live as one.” Good to know ChatGPT respects classic rock ’n’ roll.

• No Blame Game - A very hopeful outcome from this song is the lack of blame afforded one side or the other. Admittedly, the current Ukraine War resulted from Russia’s invasion in 2022. But in 2014, the Maidan coup provided enough evidence for the AI to assert a culprit. It’s heartening to see ChatGPT give peace a chance.

As a science guy, I tend to look to nature to understand the human element. Convergent evolution describes the process of distant, but related, organisms evolving similar traits for a specific function.

For example, bats and dolphins both use echolocation to locate food or hunt prey. They both use this evolved sonar technique that echoes back signals. Researchers view this as a genetic resemblance. Thus, a similar feature evolved independently.

So in my mind, ChatGPT is gathering all the past human information as genetic code to formulate a similar feature from a different species. Are we distantly related to the AI machine? I’m quite sure this homespun hypothesis is not standing on solid ground. However, it is a thought experiment to try to decipher the advent of AI into our lives.

This exercise has taught me to see some artificial light at the end of the techno tunnel.

First, ChatGPT was able to rationalize that war is not the answer in a protest song response. Second, it almost seems like the machine is teaching us to be compassionate towards one another.

This begs the question. Are we learning from the AI or is the AI learning from us?

Either way, we are entering a new era. Get ready.

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