Yes, and…
Improv with AI.
AI collaboration is like improv with a teacher’s pet. You get a lot of “yes, and.” Every now and then, you get some really good material.
It agrees with almost everything. It always has to have the last word. It’s non-deterministic so you never know where it’s going to go. A lot of times, it’s a parade of mediocre slop1.
I use AI a lot to think through creative side projects and in the process, I inadvertently get philosophical and existential.
For the past 3 years, I’ve been recording every jam, practice, noodle, and song idea. No matter how sloppy or polished, it gets recorded. I’ve been brainstorming with Claude on a tool to help me mine it all for real songs.
Inevitably, I’ve been thinking about how to share the music when it’s been realized. But I got in my head. One night I sent Claude a ramble about whether my music needed an audience at all2.
And wow, when it nails it, it truly does nail it. It suggested:
there’s a version of ‘audience’ that isn’t performance. Not releasing tracks, not building a following — just leaving a trail. Somewhere between diary and gallery
— Claude
That created a little spark for me and has given me a boost to think more on this.
And now, I’m the one saying “yes, and…”, not the AI.
- I am exploring how to wrangle this conundrum. More on that in a future note.
- I hated that I asked this, to be honest. I wish I reserved that question for someone close to me or my therapist but I reached for Claude nonetheless.
Proof of human: Human Written, according to Pangram 4.1. The quote from Claude isn’t counted.