We have been here in St. Lucia for well over a month. As written before it is our mid-season M&R stop. But it is more than that since we are inclined to move around less and stay anchored longer. We did get all our M&R (nothing major) including personal work accomplished and awaiting a good weather window to head south. That looks like tomorrow.
Previously I wrote about Gemini, Google’s AI “assistant” and how it described what KALUNAMOO was and what life aboard it in the Caribbean was all about. It was a clear demonstration for me what AI could do, which was both amazing and frightening. Others have written about their own reflections of what AI said about themselves; how it really helps diagnosing boat issues and directs repairs; and how it predicts weather more quickly than traditional weather models. In addition, AI has taken over video and photo presentations. Was that what I see or just a brilliant disguise?
All this reminded me of that 70’s ad campaign “Is it live or Memorex?”. Memorex was an audio recording tape that sounded as good as a “live” performance when played back. Or so they claimed. Is that AI “assistant” as good as a “live” person?
I am bringing this up because of another AI program. A few weeks ago, we had a musical jam session with a couple of other cruisers on SWEET CAROLINE and KALUNAMOO. We got together with Tim on VAHANA, Joe on ADIONA and Rene on THIRD TAC. We are all non-professional musicians and just like to make “pleasant noise” together. Sometime all in the same key. I am always on the lookout for other cruisers to jam with and willing to lug my keyboard around to other boats.
Tim sang a song he wrote called Alternator Blues. A fun song about a defunct engine alternator on a boat. After some time, we managed to get the chord progressions, rhythm and timing right and we all had a good time. A few days later Tim introduced me to Suno.
Suno can be described as a music and record producer, arranger and recording studio. It is totally AI and produces music and songs. Give it some idea, a musical genre, and some other inputs and the result comes out amazing. Tim gave Suno his lyrics to Alternator Blues and it “produced” a completed audio rendition. Was it Memorex or was it live? I couldn’t tell as I was completely amazed. It was a blues rhythm with a great male vocal and an arrangement with a band back up, all AI generated. It makes you realize what a producer does to make a song really sing!
So here we were anchored in Rodney Bay St Lucia, having completed the M&R chores (mostly), reading books, swimming, eating at various restaurants, having sundowners with other cruisers, looking for the green flash – in short – living on a boat, and waiting to sail on. I logged on to Suno.com and see what it can do.
Over the years, I have jotted down “lyrics” to ideas that will probably never see the light of day. But Suno comes along and so I give it a try. I uploaded my lyrics “Around the World” and gave Suno some prompts to see what it came up with as a simple folk song. I don’t think it will win an Emmy but it check out:
What does this all mean? It has been said that the most important feature of the human body is the opposing thumb. That, and the ability of the brain to control it, made us who we are today. From that humble begining, tools were made from ideas in the brain. What a long road was travelled; although in the universe of time it was only a recent momentary flash. As the tools at our disposal become ubiquitous, avenues of exploration experiences expand exponentially (AEEEE).
We have seen this in all walks of life and certainly in the realm of sailboat cruising. What was unthinkable before: crossing oceans in a small boat, living on a boat with the comforts of home, are routinely undertaken.
Making music seemed like the ultimate human activity that only humans can do. The best of it reflects a human inner soul that is hard to express otherwise. Of course that is not true, birds do it every day. Aren’t the hills alive with the sound of music? It can be argued that Suno didn’t do anything more than duplicate sounds and patterns that existed before (it learns from published music) and just arranged them in statistically pleasing ways. It doesn’t have that inner soul driving that expressive emotion.
I think that is true, it is just a tool that humans can use. Much like the progression from a hammered dulcimer to a modern piano, the tools are more sophisticated and are used to manifest what the soul conceives. But it, like all AI, is very persuasive. The emotions it conveys are indeed artificial, and that makes it a very dangerous tool. Because at the end of the day, humans react to emotions that machines will never feel. When AI music moves the soul, does it know the pleasure it gives? Does a wind filled sail know the pleasures it gives to the captain?
Kalunamoo 