Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Technology and Religion
Generative AI Comes for Songwriting

Generative AI Comes for Songwriting

Last updated on: April 25, 2024 at 1:09 pm by James F. McGrath

0 Comments

Generative AI Comes for Songwriting 2024-04-25T13:09:12-04:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m very hard to impress when it comes to generative AI…and this new music-generating tool has me seriously impressed!

As you know, I have spent a lot of time experimenting with ChatGPT as well as other generative AI chatbots, and AI art generators such as NightCafe and Dall-E (the former is really great and I recommend trying it out if you haven’t already). I have also been trying to keep an eye on developments in music-generating AI, but there weren’t any that were quite as exciting as what was happening in the realm of text and visual art.

Until, that is, I found Suno.

Trying it out

My first prompt asked for a song about critical thinking and information literacy. In a matter of seconds it had produced one set of lyrics and two different songs with those lyrics. This one is called “Mind’s Eye”

[Verse] In a world so full of lies and deception We gotta use our minds It’s our protection Critical thinking That’s the key Question everything Set your mind free Information overload It’s hard to tell what’s real Don’t believe the hype Learn how to heal From the fake news Spreading like disease Open up your mind Let the truth breeze [Verse 2] Don’t be fooled by the surface Dig a little deeper It’s time to wake up Be a critical thinker Don’t let them manipulate Control your mind Seek the truth Don’t be left behind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk5h11TBK88

Play it again, Suno!

Asking it to do the same again it produced another set of lyrics on the subject and another two songs with those new lyrics. This time it called the song “Enlightened Minds.” Here once again is one of the two songs along with the lyrics:

[Verse] Open up your eyes Listen to the truth Let your mind soar Don’t stay aloof Critical thinking It’s the key you see Information literacy Set your mind free In a world full of fake news and deception We need to question every false perception Don’t believe the hype Don’t just go with the flow Educate yourself Let your knowledge grow [Verse 2] In a world of information overload We gotta sift through Find the truth untold Don’t let them fool you with their twisted tales Open up your mind Critical thinking prevails

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm0PshQKvdk

I think you’ll agree this is impressive, every bit as much as ChatGPT. And whereas ChatGPT is impressive doing what it is designed to do (imitate human speech) but even in the process its inability to deal with facts and information becomes an issue, that doesn’t happen in relation to art.

Pronounced Pronunciation Problems

Suno does have the musical equivalent of AI art generators’ penchant for adding extra or overly long fingers, however. Some songs were truncated and end abruptly. Others in which I asked for it to include an uncommon word or neologism resulted in odd pronunciations. I tried “Christmaker” (the title of my next book) and panentheism. It came up with great lyrics on the latter topic yet could not pronounce the word! Here’s “Eternal Boundaries”:

[Verse] In the realm of infinite mystery I question all we see Searching for a truth beyond the vast expanse of reality A cosmic dance Where consciousness and divinity intertwine Panentheism The essence of existence It’s all I’m tryin’ to find [Verse 2] From the tiniest atom to the boundless cosmic sea Every particle carries the divine It’s a tapestry An ever-expanding universe Where God’s presence resides Invisible hands shaping our destiny In this celestial ride [Chorus] Boundaries fade away in this cosmic symphony Panentheism The essence of all I believe Infinite love and consciousness Connecting you and me Let’s transcend this mortal realm And set our spirits free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxThAYw474Q

I really like that song, which is perhaps not surprising given that I asked it to not only make a song about a progressive religious viewpoint but to make a song in the progressive rock genre. Even so, it is striking if not surprising that a song can be enjoyable and emotionally powerful without a human artist involved as creator. Of course, it accomplishes this by imitating an extensive data set of source material. If we compare the songs and the lyrics, as well as the poems and the essays, that challenge our thinking and tug at our heart strings, they all use musical and linguistic formulas that can be understood, analyzed, and imitated.

When AI shows that it can do what humans do, we are having highlighted to us this aspect of human creativity. What seems fresh and new today will one day sound very much archaic, of its time, belonging to a bygone era.

Teaching in the Age of AI

As with ChatGPT, being an educator I am also concerned to know what this technology is capable of because I need to make assignments for my classes that cannot simply be carried out by feeding a prompt into some form of generative AI or other artificial intelligence. My first request for a song based on a biblical text made me think I had nothing to worry about. This is what it came up with when asked to make a song based on Psalm 8:

[Verse] Stars in the sky Shining bright In this dance of cosmic light Through the beat We unite Feel the rhythm Take flight [Verse 2] Mysteries of the universe unfold As the bassline takes a hold In this techno symphony We’re told That we’re all part of something bold [Chorus] Oh Higher power Guide us through the night In this techno melody We find our light Hands in the air Bodies moving free Dancing to the rhythm We’re all connected You see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcZu6OV1sFA&t=2s

Very cool but at best tangentially related to Psalm 8. Next I tried the Lord’s Prayer, indicating in the prompt that I wanted it to stick closely to the words of that text. This time it impressed me with its ability. I assume that ChatGPT could do the same thing, but to couple that text-generating capability with the creation of appropriate music to go along with it still seems remarkable. It called it “Hallelujah Hymn” and as always made two musical versions:

[Verse] Our Father Up above Hallowed be Thy name Take me to the river Wash away all my shame Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On Earth as it is in Heaven Lord Let Your light shine Oh! [Verse 2] Give us this day our daily bread Fill our cups till they overflow Nothin’ left unsaid Forgive our debts as we forgive the ones who harmed us Lead us not into temptation Shelter us from the darkness [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Sing it loud and clear Hallelujah Hallelujah Let our voices cheer For Thine is the kingdom The power And the glory Forever and ever We’ll sing this eternal story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr4QxiPxQJI

That is impressive enough that I know I need to rethink my final project in the course I teach on the Bible and Music. But Suno wasn’t done impressing me. I switched to custom mode, gave it an exact text to set, and asked for something in a choral romantic style. What it gave was with a soloist rather than a choir but other than that, well, have a listen:

Conclusion: Suno and the Professor

Thus far in my class, making a completely original song rather than a cover of someone else’s was the harder option. Now it seems I might need to make it off limits because a generative AI tool can do it. Presumably thanks to copyright we won’t have AIs generating new versions of existing songs anytime soon (he says hopefully but also with a tinge of uncertainty).

I have made most of “my” songs public on the Suno website. As you’d expect, I’m ReligionProf there as well. Have a listen, explore what this technology can do, and then please come back and share your thought about it!

There has been a lot of other AI news, including a robot delivering a college commencement address.

Technology and Religion

Religious Music and Entertainment

artificial intelligence

music

artificial intelligence

music

Suno

Previous Post

April 13, 2024

3 Body Problem (and The Dark Forest)

Next Post

April 30, 2024 Esther Hamori, God's Monsters

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"V. good.For me, the gold standard for this sort of thing is still Wikihistory by ..."

Scurra

The Time-Traveler’s Apprentice (A Short Story)

"The one who says "no one comes to the Father but through me" is the ..."

James F. McGrath

Attack on Religious Freedom in Indiana

"Until I read, "As a Christian, it is possible but not at all necessary to ..."

Sam Vimes

Attack on Religious Freedom in Indiana

"Hey James, regarding your penultimate paragraph, I struggle with the same issue. I do think ..."

Jeff Cate

The Fourth Synoptic Gospel

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz