Amused by all this conversation, and knowing how good ChatGPT is with poetry, I requested a poem about the difficulties AI is experiencing with writing a great contra dance. 

Here’s what it came up with:

>>>


Contra dance is a human art, With steps and moves that play a part But for AI, it's tough to create A dance that flows and feels great

The music's beat and tempo's pace Are hard for AI to keep in place For contra dance is not just code, But a human experience that’s bestowed

The algorithms need be precise, The moves and flow must feel nice For AI to write a dance that's sweet

It's a quest far from complete.

<<<

For the record, one of the first things I did was also see if ChatGPT could write a dance. I instantly came to the conclusion that we weren’t there yet - what it spit out showed that it understood what contra dance is, but that it doesn’t yet understand the art of a great dance. 

But wow, Jeff, your patience and attempts to teach it as you went along were impressive! I enjoyed reading your blog post.

Cheers!
Drew

On Jan 28, 2023, at 3:00 PM, Jeff Kaufman <jeff@alum.swarthmore.edu> wrote:


I played with it some as well, and tried to figure out how much it understood: https://www.jefftk.com/p/can-gpt-3-write-contra-dances

When given an example contra dance it generated new ones with real terms, correctly divided it into A1/A2/B1/B2, and kept 16 beats to the section.  But it didn't understand how many beats each figure was, how to progress dancers with their partners, or how to write satisfying dances.

Jeff

On Sat, Jan 28, 2023 at 5:12 PM Julian Blechner via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I'm sorry, Jonathan. I can't do that. 

;)

On Sat, Jan 28, 2023, 5:07 PM Jonathan Sivier via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
    Now all we need to do is come up with a figure for the call, "Open the pod bay doors."  Maybe some sort of variation of "dip and dive."  ;-)

Jonathan


On 1/28/2023 3:56 PM, Isaac Banner via Contra Callers wrote:
> Why wait, let’s hook this up to the text-to-speech engine from Moonbase Alpha and we’re in **business** - “Tonight’s callers are ChatGPT and Perfect Paul, please be patient with them they’re only just starting out.”
>
> Not a robot,
> Isaac
>
>> On Jan 28, 2023, at 10:30 AM, Julian Blechner via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> (Intended tongue in cheek)
>>
>> Okay, so, lemme get this straight.
>>
>> First, you swing young partner in the center of the set, and then stop, dosido back to place.
>>
>> Tight choreography, indeed.
>>
>> Then face your neighbor up and down and swing, again, only 8 beats and pausing mid-stanza. This one flows into a circle left, so, perhaps a bit more doable, if less conventional.
>>
>> Let's assume for the sake of good choreography that the circle is 3/4, so partners will be on the side for the second swing. That gives them a couple beats for the suggested flourish of a twirl. And while it lists the "switch places" as a separate sentence, I think we could just infer this is a regular swing and end facing across, trading that way.
>>
>> The full hey could be led by the Larks, but we still wind up with people in Becket Formation. So, assuming notation is correct, we could perhaps infer that this dance is a novel no-progression dance in sets of four, which rotates 90 degrees each time through.
>>
>> The remaining things could just be interpreted as patter, given that it is present through the whole notation.
>>
>> The first swing is short, but given we have two partner swings, adding a little bow, perhaps a truncated type, may not be so bad.
>>
>> Alternatively, the A1 swing to dosido could be a single move, like a bouquet swing. Again, the author chose to notate it with patter so it means some interpretation.
>>
>> Really, the biggest flaw in the dance is that ChatGPT has no intrinsic sense of how a human inner ear works, and has written a dance with what seems like 48 beats of clockwise rotation. And, given I know some human choreographers who have written and called dances nearly this much, it may not be a disqualifying item.
>>
>> "Human Being Did Not Write This Contra Dance" by ChatGBT
>> Improper/Becket Contra, No Progression
>>
>> A1. Larks Give and Take, P Swing in Center (16), to face Ns
>>
>> A2. Neighbor Swing (8), join hands (2)
>>        Circle L 3/4 (6)
>>
>> B1. P Swing (16)
>>
>> B2. Hey For Four (16)
>>
>> But there could be a simpler explanation. What if ChatGPT just put the bars notation oddly? Like, "the contra dance is just getting started now" sounds like the "join hands and take a bow" is actually the first move, describing a balance.
>>
>> "Human Being Contra Dance" by ChatGBT, Chuck Abell, Julian Blechner
>> Improper Contra
>>
>> A1. N DSD (6)
>>        NS (10), end facing across
>> A2. Circle L 3/4 (6)
>>        PS (10)
>> B1. Hey for 4 (to next Ns) (16) (LL, NR, RL, PR)
>> B2. P Bal, Bouquet Swing to next Ns (4, 12)
>>
>> And look, it's a reasonable amount of clockwise.
>>
>> I know I started tongue-in-cheek, but, this is an interesting idea for a dance. I better publish my choreo book soon, I guess, before the robot overlords take over!
>>
>> The real sin, in my opinion, is ChatGPT rhyming "finale" with "finale". Ew.
>>
>> In dance,
>> Julian B
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 28, 2023, 8:20 AM Charles Abell via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
>>
>>     So I've been experimenting with the new ChatGBT program, mainly to determine whether my job as an English teacher is in danger of becoming obsolete (it's not). While I was at it, I decided to see if it could write a functional contra dance. This is what I entered, and what it produced.
>>     Write a 32-bar contra dance that starts improper, includes a partner swing, a neighbor swing, and a full hey:
>>
>>         (8 bars) Start improper with your partner, swing left and right, Come back to place with a do-si-do in sight
>>         (8 bars) Swing your neighbor with a smile on your face, Then circle left, it's a wondrous embrace
>>         (8 bars) Swing your partner with a twirl and a spin, Then switch places, and let the fun begin
>>         (8 bars) Full hey now, join hands and take a bow, The contra dance is just getting started now!
>>         End the contra dance with a grand finale, Swinging and smiling, what a perfect finale!
>>
>>
>>     I don't think callers' and dance choreographers' jobs are in much danger either!
>>
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