My Workflow: Three Steps from “Creating Conflict” to “Reaping Surprises”
About the Author
乌龟哥🐢 is an Algorithm Operations Engineer with the Algorithm Team. With a passion for enhancing user experience and addressing feedback, he is dedicated to refining our algorithms and services. His role involves collaborating with the team to implement innovative solutions that align with our users’ needs and expectations.
In creation, we are always accustomed to giving AI clear and specific instructions, expecting it to “execute tasks” with precision. But what if we do the opposite? If we deliberately give it a “mess” full of contradictions, almost to the point of being difficult, will the AI crash, or will it bring us unexpected surprises? I conducted such an experiment and found that this “reverse thinking” approach to creation is precisely the shortcut to the treasure trove of unknown inspiration.
Step 1: Propose a “contradictory” challenge
I sent Tunee a command that could be described as “schizophrenic.” This prompt contained at least two completely opposite sets of elements: one emotional and the other stylistic.
My Prompt:
“Write a song that sounds very happy and cute, but reveals extreme sadness and loneliness, in line with the retro internet wave of the 2000s, but also has a sense of technology. Please match the music style according to my requirements.”
The contradiction in this instruction lies in:
•Emotional conflict: happy and cute vs. extreme sadness and loneliness
•Style conflict: 2000s retro internet vs. future technology
In conventional creative thinking, harmoniously unifying these elements is a huge challenge for any producer.
Step 2: Interpreting the AI’s “stroke of genius”
Faced with this problem, Tunee was not confused. Instead, like an experienced creative director, it gave me three completely different but logically self-consistent creative paths to choose from.
Option 1: Y2K Electronic Pop
It perfectly solves the style conflict: Y2K electronic pop is the iconic sound of the “2000s retro internet wave,” and its extensive use of digital synthesizer sounds directly reflects the “sense of technology” of that era, creating a unique retro-futurism.
It cleverly resolves the emotional conflict: the “happy and cute” feeling is handled by the fast tempo, sweet vocals, and bright melody line; while the “sadness and loneliness” are buried in the underlying layers of the music, through melancholic chord progressions and low bass lines, injecting a lingering sense of loss under the cheerful appearance.
Option 2: Retro Chiptune (Pixel Music)
It perfectly solves the style conflict: Chiptune originated from 8-bit game console music, which is the perfect intersection of the concepts of “2000s retro internet wave” and “sense of technology,” a childhood echo of the digital age.
It cleverly resolves the emotional conflict: the melody of chip music is usually simple and lively, giving a “happy and cute” feeling; but its electronic timbre itself has a unique, digital “emptiness” that can convey a mechanical, detached “sadness and loneliness.”
Option 3: Lo-fi Electronics + Vaporwave
It perfectly solves the style conflict: the aesthetic core of Vaporwave is the sampling and re-creation of early digital culture such as the “2000s internet.” It is itself a kind of nostalgia full of “sense of technology,” seamlessly blending retro and virtual feelings.
It cleverly resolves the emotional conflict: the “happy and cute” is handled by the bright melody, while the “sadness and loneliness” permeates the overall atmosphere—the soothing rhythm, blurry samples, and lyrical expression work together to create a unique mood of being both beautiful and alienated while roaming the digital world.
These three options made me realize that the AI is not just executing commands, it is performing a real “creative interpretation,” providing three profound artistic solutions for my contradictory needs, and the generated results perfectly interpret the complexity of human emotions.
Step 3: Discovering treasures in the “unexpected”
Among all the generated songs, I felt that Lo-fi Electronics + Vaporwave unexpectedly hit my aesthetic. The final product is a “melancholy nostalgic tech-hit” wrapped in a cute candy coating.
The melody of this song is light and jumpy, but there is an indescribable sense of loneliness flowing in its undercurrent. This unique “aesthetic of conflict” is absolutely unattainable through step-by-step creation. It is precisely because I initially proposed an “unreasonable” request that the AI was forced to jump out of the conventional thinking framework and finally dug up this creative treasure in an unexpected corner.
Perhaps the best way to collaborate with AI is not to treat it as a tool that only executes commands, but to see it as a creative partner that can inspire each other. Next time you’re out of inspiration, you might as well try “reverse thinking,” deliberately give it a difficult problem, and see what surprises it will bring you.