Could an artificial intelligence create music as good as Rush?

[toymaker]

So, if we fed machine learning algorithms all of the Rush albums, could the AI generate anything even remotely as good?  Maybe if we left out Roll the Bones and Presto...? 

 

Apologies if this has been previously discussed.  My students have been writing about this stuff lately and it got me wondering.

[Nova Carmina]

I guess it depends on how good the AI will get.  You mention student writing, and from what I've seen so far (more than I'd like) most of the writing is marked by what we'd call a high level of competence and a low level of imagination. It's anodyne, tedious, and uniform. The music might sound like really good musicians without any really good ideas about what to do next.

 

My hope/trust/fervent prayer is that the origin of something is always made clear (like truth in labeling laws), and that way, as a matter of principle, I just won't listen to AI music. It can be great over there, but I'll be over here, listening to the flawed stuff people make as art.

[BigMontanaSKY]

Naw. Some of Rush music is very unique. "Xanadu" is like a unique sandwich of creativity.

 

 

[laughedatbytime]

I agree it would have trouble with the creativity of the music.

 

But you could probably ask it to come up with something that would get an honorable mention in a third grade poetry contest and it would come up with something indistinguishable from Half the World or paste the meme

 

and the lyrics to the song Test for Echo would come up...

[toymaker]

Right . . . don't feed it Test for Echo, either.  I'm thinking everything from Fly by Night to Signals.  A very fine run.

[zepphead]

AI Geddy.

[IbanezJem]

My understanding is that AI is pretty remorseless when working toward a set objective. But this is not a definable target. I believe AI could indeed create magnificent art (music, visual arts, novels) but the subjectivity as to what is great or beautiful isn't easy to define even among humans. AI would almost certainly create some incredible work,  but I figure it would be along the lines of the room full of monkeys with typewriters.

[_hi_water._]

Nope. They will only recreate "Gwar"

 

 

or "Half the World" or most of Test for Echo

[grep]

1 hour ago, IbanezJem said:

My understanding is that AI is pretty remorseless when working toward a set objective.

 

For example,  exterminating humans

[grep]

24 minutes ago, _hi_water._ said:

Nope. They will only recreate "Gwar"

 

 

or "Half the World" or most of Test for Echo

But look at it this way, whatever is created will never suck quite as badly as Tai-Shan.

AI Shan?

[BastillePark]

Probably better. 

[toymaker]

I agree about the lack of heart (which I am grabbing between the lines of I.J.'s post).  It's good to know that fans understand that there is actually a lot of heart in Rush's music.  (Insert puns now).

[jacobsbladder]

No way.  AI stuff will always be a blander smoothed out version of the best.

 

But I do agree with the AI training and I think there will be AI products based on their specific training pool.  Like specific industry AI for the enterprise.  Conservative christian bible based AI for those people.  Radical progressive politics for the other people.  

 

And maybe even specific AI products for generating music trained on specific genres and if you can't think of a specific song to listen to or even shuffle you can dial in 70% prog, 10% jazz, 20% traditional bluegrass and the AI will generate some music to pass the time.  Turn up the "melancholy" knob for something sadder, crank the "happy" knob on a Friday.

 

Hell I'm happy we have spell check that's pretty good AI.

[invisible airwave]

Gives new meaning to Virtuality.

 

Not one of the better songs lyrically, though.  It sounds like Neil channeling that Buscemi 30 Rock meme about the internet boom of the mid 90s.  It's aged as well as Netscape.

Edited July 15, 2023 by invisible airwave

[Alexmai]

On 7/11/2023 at 1:20 AM, grep said:

 

For example,  exterminating humans

To save mankind, make an AI replica of the Trinity and let them judge the AI Rush music... It will never be ready 🤣🤣🤣

[Alexmai]

I'd ask the AI to do one album of every Rush phase, feeding AI with those Rush albums plus the ones that inspire the boys in every single phase...

Edited July 16, 2023 by Alexmai

[grep]

2 hours ago, Alexmai said:

I'd ask the AI to do one album of every Rush phase, feeding AI with those Rush albums plus the ones that inspire the boys in every single phase...

Now that's an interesting idea. Like, first 4 records, plus what Zeppelin, The Who and Yes had released up until 2112.

 

Or for the synth era.. SIG, P/G, PoW, and HYF, along with... I dunno...the Police, U2, Supertramp ???  

Edited July 16, 2023 by grep

[treeduck]

Could artificial intelligence produce a deluxe edition of Signals with a full live show?

[goose]

On 7/14/2023 at 1:34 PM, jacobsbladder said:

 

 

Hell I'm happy we have spell check that's pretty good AI.

 

 

Spell check is abysmal.

[grep]

5 hours ago, treeduck said:

Could artificial intelligence produce a deluxe edition of Signals with a full live show?

That would not suck.

[toymaker]

7 hours ago, grep said:

Now that's an interesting idea. Like, first 4 records, plus what Zeppelin, The Who and Yes had released up until 2112.

 

Or for the synth era.. SIG, P/G, PoW, and HYF, along with... I dunno...the Police, U2, Supertramp ???  

Ultravox . . . could we just maybe give it isolated guitar parts from those other songs, though?

[Weatherman]

You all have to admit that Ged would be diving into artificial intelligence if he were still writing and recording music. He's the most curious one. 

Neil is the one who would've had no use for it whatsoever.