Nick Cave Responds To AI Song Based On His Style: 'This Song Is Bullsh*t'

Nick Cave isn't fond of the emergence of AI in the arts. The Jubilee Street singer has responded to a fan named Mark, who came to him via his Q&A website, The Red Hand Files, to show him a song "written in the style of Nick Cave" on the viral software, ChatGPT.

The AI-constructed song features the chorus, "I am the sinner, I am the saint / I am the darkness, I am the light / I am the hunter, I am the prey / I am the devil, I am the saviour".

Cave responded to Mark, who lives in New Zealand, and didn't pull any punches. He said that "dozens" of fans had written to him with songs produced by the AI software. "Suffice to say, I do not feel the same enthusiasm around this technology," he commented about the "algorithmic awe" many fans seemed to hold for ChatGPT. Cave added, "I understand that ChatGPT is in its infancy but perhaps that is the emerging horror of AI" - that it will always have further to go.

Cave continued, "[AI] can never be rolled back, or slowed down, as it moves us toward a utopian future, maybe, or our total destruction. Who can possibly say which? Judging by this song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’ though, it doesn’t look good, Mark. The apocalypse is well on its way. This song sucks."

He called ChatGPT's "replication" of his style "a travesty".

Cave thanked Mark for the song before he concluded, "With all the love and respect in the world, this song is bullshit, a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human, and, well, I don’t much like it — although, hang on!, rereading it, there is a line in there that speaks to me — ‘I’ve got the fire of hell in my eyes’ — says the song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’, and that’s kind of true. I have got the fire of hell in my eyes – and it’s ChatGPT." Read the rest of his answer here.

Nick Cave has been busy writing the next Bad Seeds album, which hasn't been the most pleasant experience. In fact, he called songwriting "The pits" in a recent Red Hand Files answer. He also said, "My plan for this year is to make a new record with the Bad Seeds. This is both good news and bad news. Good news because who doesn’t want a new Bad Seeds record? Bad news because I’ve got to write the bloody thing."

The new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds record will follow 2019's heartbreaker, Ghosteen.