Oh No My AI (Filk)
To the tune of “Because I Got High” with apologies to Afroman.
I was gonna save the world
when I built AI
I was gonna make everyone’s life great
with my new AI
But I built it unaligned, I don’t know why (hey hey)
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
I made a really nice box
for my AI
I gave it a really good lock
to hold my AI
But it talked its way outside, I’m gonna cry (yeah yeah)
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
I made my AI smart
smarter than I
So we could do really cool stuff
all thanks to AI
But it outsmarted me, and now we’ll die (oh no)
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
I wish I’d made it better
a Friendly AI
I shoulda listened to Yudkowsky
when I built AI
But instead we’re paperclips, and I know why (say why)
because my AI
is unaligned
oh no my AI
This song is very much amenable to additional verses, so I hope folks have fun writing additional ones in the comments!
I was gonna do some X
with my AI
I was gonna only do X
with my AI
But when I got it working, it generalized (to Y)
oh no my AI
it also does Y
oh no my AI
I was gonna help humanity
with my AI
So I put a definition of brains
in my AI
Now it satisfies the preferences
of the fruit fly (oh yeah)
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
oh no my AI
I‘m going to make myself better
When I merge with my AI
I’m going evolve myself higher
When I merge with my AI
I’m going to join the psychotope
When I merge with my AI
Oh yes, it’s my AI
Can’t you see it’s my AI
Oh yes, it’s me & my AI
To scan, the structure should be something like:
(2 syllable pickup) (3-4 syllable measure) (2-3 syllable measure) (2-3 syllable measure)
(optional 1-syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
(1-2 syllable pickup) (3-4 syllable measure) (2-3 syllable beat) (2-3 syllable beat)
(optional 1-syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
(1-2 syllable pickup) (2-4 syllable measure) (2-3 syllable beat) (2-3 syllable beat)
(optional 1-syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
(optional 1 syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
(1 syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
(1 syllable pickup) (4 syllable measure [the last 2 being AI])
E.g.
(I was) (gonna) (go to work but) (then I got high)
(I) (just got a) (new promotion but) (I got high)
[no pickup] (Now I’m) (selling dope and) (I know why)
[no pickup] (’Cause I got high)
(Be)(cause I got high)
(Be)(cause I got high)
Oh wow this is a really great breakdown of the song’s structure.
I don’t really know any music theory, but I know a bit about poetry, and I can implicitly piece together how it works and hear whether or not it scans. I could tell there was a lot of weird optionality in this song, where you can shove in extra mora or whole feet in lines or leave them out and it would still scan, but sometimes it wouldn’t. The song’s meter does some weird stuff I don’t really understand, which makes it both easy and hard to match (easy in that it offers a lot of flexibility for creativity, hard in that it’s complex and easy to get wrong if you don’t try singing it).
Apologies if I caused you any consternation. I saw the string and thought it’d be fun to take a stab at it. I only had a vague awareness of the actual song, took a quick listen and played out my lyrics in my head based on some readings I’ve been doing on the psychotop & AI. Unfortunately I didn’t realize there’s rigid structure to Hip-hop stuff. My background is more along the lines of psychedelia and I tend to see lyric structures more in line with a Grace Slick style where vocal lyrics can be playfully varied around the song structure. best—hopkins
No worries!