Pop Songs Are Getting Simpler and More Harmonically Simple

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Pop songs have been getting simpler and more kind of predictable, if you like. There seems to be a general flattening in the structure of pop songs. Key change can give a slightly different perspective on the story of the song. The way that harmonies work with the emotional sentiment of the song is also important.

When OpenAI launched its conversational chatbot this past November, author Ian Leslie was struck by the humanness of the computer's dialogue. Then he realized that he had it exactly backward: In an age that favors the formulaic and generic to the ambiguous, complex, and unexpected, it's no wonder that computers can sound eerily lifelike. Leslie tells EconTalk host Russ Roberts that we should worry less about the lifelike nature of AI and worry more that human beings are being more robotic and predictable. Leslie bolsters his argument with evidence from music and movies. The conversation includes a discussion of the role of education in wearing down the mind's rougher, but more interesting and more authentic, edges as well as how we might strive to be more human in the age of AI.