Negotiating with the Machine

... in which a surprisingly reflective AI tells me no (for good reasons) ...

After spending some time this morning generating various pictures of monkeys I got bored and decided to ask Gemini 2.5 Pro to create a virtual synthesizer for me. My initial ambition was to get a recreation of the famous ReBirth RB-338 virtual synth from the late 90s, and I have gathered a pretty good spec and instructed the AI to recreate it in HTML and Javascript.

What happened next is surprising and significant. Gemini did its “thinking” schtick. During its thinking session it reached the conclusion that this task is not feasible in one shot. It then stopped and explained that to me.

Thinking Excerpt:

…

Feasibility Assessment:

Creating a complete and fully working reproduction of ReBirth RB-338 is an enormous undertaking, likely requiring months or even years of development by an experienced team. It involves deep knowledge of digital signal processing (DSP), web audio APIs (like Tone.js), UI development, and the specific nuances of the original hardware ReBirth emulated.

Limitations:

Complexity: The scope is far beyond what can be generated in a single response. It's a full-scale software development project.

Accuracy: Achieving authentic emulation, especially for the TB-303 filter, is extremely challenging. Tone.js provides building blocks, but the specific tuning and interaction of components require significant DSP expertise.

…

Conclusion: It is not feasible to generate a complete, fully working reproduction of ReBirth RB-338 as requested in a single response. The complexity and scope are too large.

Alternative Approach:

I can provide a basic structural outline and some simplified example code snippets demonstrating key concepts using HTML, JavaScript, and Tone.js to illustrate how one might start building such a project. This would include:

Basic HTML structure.

Setting up Tone.js.

A very simplified representation of one TB-303-style synth with a few controls (e.g., cutoff, resonance).

A very simplified 16-step sequencer.

Basic UI elements (e.g., simple buttons/sliders).

This will not be a ReBirth clone, but rather a conceptual starting point.

…

I have never seen an LLM do this. Typically, if I request something that can’t be achieved, the AI will just try and fail miserably. Gemini 2.5 Pro’s ability to reason about what it can and cannot do is a powerful and important new type of behaviour.

Anyway, not one to take no for an answer, I negotiated, and Gemini did produce a simpler but nevertheless fully working and fun synthesizer. Give it a try.