Abstract
As with any emergent technology, the role of computers in the production of music has not been regarded as value neutral. However, the perceived threat of artificial intelligence (AI) has seemingly raised the stakes. The score produced by notation software might be regarded as nothing more than replacing one tool, pen and ink, with another. As the programs incorporate what are regarded as higher-level functions – creating a sound file using synthesized timbres, adding modules that orchestrate, arrange a reduction, or monitor compositional practices of counterpoint and harmonic progression, the technology no longer seems to be taking over a tedious mechanical process, but intruding on human practice. Claims have been made regarding the ability of AI-based programs to generate new compositions, either in the style of an established composer, or wholly invented. We might distinguish two different kinds of imposture, one pragmatic, one existential. The first imposture relates to performance. While it may suggest a coarsening of listeners’ sensibilities, an inability to distinguish between live and synthesized performance, there are social and economic consequences of displacement and isolation for as performers. The second imposture relates to composition. Composition is a creative activity; we presume that a composition is more original than a performance. A performer whose interpretation seems wrong-headed is an eccentric; a composer whose compositions are not original is a hack. If an AI program generates a composition, can we evaluate it? Is it a forgery? Should we respond as if it were a human production?
Presenters
Howard S. MeltzerProfessor, Music and Art, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
New Media, Technology and the Arts
KEYWORDS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MUSIC COMPOSITION, MUSIC PERFORMANCE
