Action: Design a Prompt and Generate Lyrics
Now it's time to learn how to get the best possible lyrics from the Songwriter Bot and evaluate its songwriting skills.
Prompt writing is a skill
Generative AI is NOT a rule-following machine that gives consistent results every time, like a calculator. It uses statistics and probability to generate responses based on patterns it observed when the model was trained. You will often have to reword a prompt or add details several times to get a helpful answer.
A well-written prompt will specify:
- Specific details. Providing more details in your prompt will usually give better results.
- Length. Do you want a single sentence, or two verses and a chorus?
- Style. A country song? A hip-hop song? Written at a grade 6 reading level?
- Tone. Hopeful? Angry? Suspenseful? Silly?
Activity 9: Prompt writing practice (4 minutes)
Suppose you want the Songwriter Bot to create a song about a dinosaur. If you use the prompt "Write a song about a dinosaur", the results will vary widely. It could be a plant eater or a meat eater, six lines or four verses, a hip-hop song or a show tune, sad or silly.
| Add… | Vague prompt | Better prompt |
|---|---|---|
| Details | Write a song about a dinosaur | Write a song about a T-rex who likes to play catch in the playground but has trouble throwing and catching because of his short arms |
| Length | Write a song about a dinosaur | Write a 4 line verse and a 2 line chorus for a song about a dinosaur |
| Style | Write a song about a dinosaur | Write a children's song about a dinosaur |
| Tone | Write a song about a dinosaur | Write a scary song about a dinosaur |
Songwriter Bot
Try it: improve a dinosaur prompt
Start with "Write a song about a dinosaur", then run it again with a detail, a length, a style, and a tone added. Compare how the lyrics change.
Check your understanding
Which prompt is most likely to give you the lyrics you have in mind?
Activity 10: Design your prompt (4 minutes)
Now that you know the key elements of a good prompt, plan a prompt to generate lyrics about your Indigenous role model.
Your answers are saved in this browser only. You can copy or download everything you wrote from the last lesson.
Activity 11: Final songwriting test (4 minutes)
- Write your prompt using the details above.
- Paste your role model's story after your prompt. Use the Copy Story to Clipboard button in the Story Gallery, or in Lesson 3 for Melissa Haney. Giving the bot the full story is how it gets the details right.
- Generate the lyrics.
- Copy the lyrics into your notes below.
If you are using Melissa Haney's story, here is a suggested prompt you can start from.
Suggested prompt for Melissa Haney (paste her story right after it):
Create two verses and a four line chorus for an inspirational pop song about airline pilot Melissa Haney that reminds us to try things even if you aren't sure you can do it and accept that there will be ups and downs along the way but with mentorship and community support you can overcome those obstacles.
Songwriter Bot
Final songwriting test
The Songwriter Bot below is the same one at yourvoiceispower.ca/ai/songwriter-bot. It does not store your prompts or lyrics. Remember the ground rules: never type private information into it.
Final songwriting test notes
Your answers are saved in this browser only. You can copy or download everything you wrote from the last lesson.
What did you notice?
Your answers are saved in this browser only. You can copy or download everything you wrote from the last lesson.
Coming up
You have now written lyrics both ways. In the last lesson you will decide whether AI replaces a songwriter, and learn the rules about copyright, plagiarism, and AI at school.
Finished this lesson?
Mark it complete so you can pick up where you left off.