Citizens of the Neon Republic (Practice Tracks)

Citizens of the Neon Republic is a piece conceived from an imagined, dystopian world where AI has just won an election and is delivering its presidential speech. It incorporates themes of death and rebirth, drawing from co-programmed works: Brahms’ Nänie (“the beautiful, too, must die”) and Vienna Teng’s Hymn of Acxiom (“oh how glorious, a brand new need is born”).

Socrates once decried the written word as “the death of memory.” We have feared new technologies for as long as we’ve invented them. In creating a piece about—and in collaboration with—AI, it was important to us to walk the line between tech optimism and that uncanny-valley unease that hints at the unintended consequences of assigning human tasks to machines. Fun fact: “computer” originally referred to a person who performed computations. We didn’t want to decry AI outright, nor did we want to uncritically celebrate it.

Here, we imagine the consequences of unbridled AI optimism, in which human activity is entirely circumscribed by algorithm— raising questions about effort, truth, and attention in such a reality. The statement “the age of peace begins” is obviously hyperbolic propaganda. But does that necessarily mean it’s a lie? What is the relationship between text and truth, especially when that text is presented as factual and delivered by an “impartial” machine?

The text for this piece was completed in Washington, D.C., during the military parade celebrating the army’s 250th anniversary. We had the idea to ask AI to generate a series of victory speeches—imagining it had just been elected President—outlining its goals and desires for humanity. The AI’s responses became the foundation and source material for the finished poem.

Citizens of the Neon Republic was commissioned by the Northwest American Choral Directors Association for the 2026 Collegiate Festival Choir, conducted by Dr. Tram Sparks. It premiered at the NW ACDA Regional Conference in Tacoma, Washington, in March 2026.

-Saunder Choi