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〒305-8572 茨城県つくば市天王台1-1-1　筑波大学人間系

Just Mumbling around Career Education

Episode 68: October 6, 2024

  • Episode 68: Encountering SUNO AI's Immense Potential (October 6, 2024)

    Teruyuki Fujita (University of Tsukuba)

    It has been more than a year and a half since January last year. During that time, I received emails from several friends expressing concern about my health, and I also received phone calls from old friends asking, "By the way, are you still alive?" I was grateful to know that there were still people out there who would take a look at such a niche site.

    The reason for the delay in updating this site is not due to my health. I am doing fine. I apologize for any concern this may have caused you.

    Until recently, I had to spend every weekend taking care of my mother, who had been living at home alone since my father passed away. After his death, my mother was determined to need long-term care, and with the help of her care manager, visiting medical team members, and health care specialists, we have been able to support her living alone. However, things have really reached a critical point and we recently decided to move her into a nursing home. Many things happened when and after she moved in, but she has finally been able to return to a peaceful life. Now I visit the facility on weekends whenever possible, and I hear her repeat the same things over and over again: "I took another bath today," "Are the payments here okay?" "How is everyone?" Until a few months ago, I never thought I would be able to have such a peaceful relationship with my mother. I am very grateful to everyone at the facility.

    ✽

    In this situation, at the end of last month, I participated in the National Conference of Elementary and Secondary Integrated Education Schools held in Fuchu City, Hiroshima Prefecture. What I would like to introduce to you in this episode is the video piece that opened the plenary session of this conference, and especially the music that was created for this video. The video, based on the conference theme of "Creating Integrated Elementary and Secondary Education to Enhance Well-Being," is a compilation of photos and videos of various learning activities of students in public schools in the host city, combined with lyrics and a catchy tune that are perfectly synchronized with the video images.

    I guessed that the photos and videos were provided by the school, but who wrote the lyrics to the song, who composed the music, who arranged it, who performed it, and who sang it? ...... How much did they spend in total?　As a person with a vulgar mindset, I was most curious about the money spent on a few minutes of images and music, but the Fuchu City Board of Education gave me an answer: zero yen. The lyrics were created by the Board of Education, and the music was composed, arranged, performed, and sung not by humans, but by a generated AI. The opening video of the plenary session was completed by editing photos and videos within the Board of Education to accompany the music.

    ...... You're joking. This can't be.
    The song unfolds through a wide range of notes and dynamic chord progressions, and the crystal clear vocals evoke the immensely popular Japanese music group YOASOBI. I was amazed to learn that we are already in an era where we can create original music like this instantly and for free.

    ✽

    I accessed "SUNO" without spending more than a few days. First, you have to create a free account and a SUNO-specific nickname. I am not particular about my name, so I let SUNO name it for me. (My name is FearlessPostPunk3020. It sounds like my hair is bleached and spiral permed, but I don't care).

    The easiest way to compose a song is to simply enter your current mood and the mood you want to be in and choose the genre of song you want to create. I was tired and wanted to feel upbeat, so I typed in "I'm currently feeling [exhausted] and I want to feel [positive]" and picked R&B (rhythm & blues) as the genre I often listen to. I literally typed in three words.

    Then two songs were created very quickly. The song titles and lyrics are identical, but you are presented with two variations of the finished songs that have been played and sung. I was quite stunned when I first used ChatGPT, and this time is comparable.

    Of the two songs, I liked the following one:
    Rise and Shine, https://suno.com/song/d3162a79-8d50-4a24-9f2e-31b589e10a31

    The lyrics, the melody, and the arrangement are, for lack of a better word, undeniably "familiar." But the fact that such a song was created so quickly is nothing short of shocking. And it's a song that exists only for me. (The copyright of the song belongs to SUNO because I registered as a free plan member).

    ✽

    When you witness such a magical moment, you naturally become greedy. I would love it more if the lyrics were original. A song that has something to do with career education would be nice, if at all possible.

    What came to my mind when I thought of this was what many college students who have started looking for a job often say: "I don't really know what I want to do or what I'm good at." The message I want to give them is, in rap, "Life ain't just a choice." Maybe if I add the essence of career construction theory to it, I could make a cool rap song. ...... and things were going smoothly up to this point, but I discovered that I had no skills in creating rhyming rap lyrics.

    Then SUNO's copyright policy came to my rescue. "Music made 100% with AI would not qualify for copyright protection because a human did not write the lyrics or the music. Writing the prompt does not constitute the creation of the song." This means that you can have the generated AI write the lyrics if you do not claim your own copyright. Then, ChatGTP, I'll take your help.

    I wrote a few paragraphs of barely rhyming slack rap lines and added a request at the top "please change the following sentences into rhyming rap lyrics" and left it to ChatGTP.

    He really did not disappoint. He made the lyrics much more dramatic than my composition, and the overall message of the song was far more positive. Also, the lyrics rhyme in a way that I could never do. I clicked the "Custom" button in SUNO, pasted the lyrics, set the genre of the song to "Underground Hip Hop, Rap" and the result was the following song:
    Time to Unwind, https://suno.com/song/1744b675-35d2-4df0-91f7-3bafaf695dbb

    ......Oh, this is great. The song and the arrangement are both cool, but what amazes me even more is the breathing effect of the vocals. At least to me, it sounds like real men actually singing.

    I was so pleased with the song. This made me try for another one. I wrote the lyrics of "knockoff reggae" based on the proverb "Seize fortune by the forelock" and the Greek god Kairos, as mentioned in "Episode 29: Is Career Planning Illusory Nonsense?". I also included the message "Don't be afraid just because it's the age of VUCA."

    I thought ChatGPT might not be able to handle such a jam-packed text, but that was not the case at all. SUNO also responded with aplomb, and the following song was the result. I chose reggae because I wanted to get rid of the preachiness, and I think I made a good choice. (This is commonly referred to as "self-praise", but ChatGTP and SUNO actually did the creative work).
    Seize the Fortune by the Forelock, https://suno.com/song/c6d83a05-3cfc-45cc-8e59-c9b268c7a087

    ✽

    The works presented by ChatGTP and SUNO this time gave me a sense of solidity. Although I couldn't enjoy the surprises and excitement such as "Wow, this is really how it's going to be!", they were very steady. I can only marvel at the speed with which lyrics are written and music is composed, arranged, performed, and sung in seconds, but I doubt that they will ever become mega-hits. However, the songs I have presented here are already special to me. They may be ordinary songs, but at least they are not so crudely made as to diminish the special feeling that they were created in response to my personal requests. In other words, if you just want to produce a song that amateurs like me consider "nice," you can do it using a generative AI, without the need for professional songwriters, composers, arrangers, performers, or singers. So, for humans to live professionally, we need to go beyond that level.

    Perhaps this is not unique to the world of music. In various areas of human activity, a certain level of quality can be achieved solely by generative AI. The scope and level of these domains will become broader and more sophisticated in the future. They will also become less expensive over time, and in some cases will be provided for free. However, only human beings can go beyond such "moderate quality" and perform acts that tug at the heartstrings. Of course, I felt strongly that this was also true in educational practices.

    ✽

    To conclude this episode, I would like to introduce a song that I wrote with the help of ChatGPT and SUNO about today's conflicts that always leave me feeling helpless and frustrated. I don't think I can suggest any solution to the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Gaza-Israel conflict by writing this song, but I honestly felt that I couldn't help but do something.
    Words of Peace, https://suno.com/song/37fb011f-09a6-4bef-a2d1-cb9535ecff73

    It has been a long time since I have been able to update the site, and I am quite relieved now. It is really important to set aside time like this on weekends to reflect and organize your thoughts. May you all be able to find some time for yourselves once in a while.

    (Translated and uploaded on October 13, 2024)

バナースペース

藤田晃之

〒305-8572
茨城県つくば市天王台1-1-1
筑波大学人間系

TEL 029-853-4598（事務室）