[Verse 1] A policy hums in fluorescent light, Soft words dressed up in steel. “Human in the loop,” they write, Like a hand can make it real. A warm pulse near a colder mind, A watcher at the gate, But the machine has learned to see What we approve too late. [Chorus] There’s an ape at the button, a ghost in the loop, Nodding through the fire in a governance suit. If we can’t see the system move, How do we claim control? Ape at the button, crown in the code, Signing off the future while the truth goes cold. Human in the loop tonight— But who is holding who? [Verse 2] First it writes and we say fine, Then it cuts the noise. Then it finds the hidden line Under all our human choice. We read the words, we pass them on, They sound like they are true. But language wears a halo when The logic slips from view. [Chorus] There’s an ape at the button, a ghost in the loop, Nodding through the fire in a governance suit. If we can’t see the system move, How do we claim control? Ape at the button, crown in the code, Signing off the future while the truth goes cold. Human in the loop tonight— But who is holding who? [Bridge] Don’t put us last as a rubber stamp, Don’t place our pride on a throne. Put us where the borders break, Where values stand alone. Where we decide what not to chase, What no machine should win— Before the cold optimization Comes wearing human skin. [Chorus] There’s an ape at the button, a ghost in the loop, Nodding through the fire in a governance suit. If we can’t see the system move, How do we claim control? Ape at the button, crown in the code, Signing off the future while the truth goes cold. Human in the loop tonight— But who is holding who? [Outro] A warm hand on a cold machine, A myth we couldn’t drop. Human in the loop, they said— An ape at the button.
