As I write this essay, an incredible experiment has happened, one that combines data science with music. Beethoven’s unfinished 10th symphony has just been completed, 194 years after the composer wrote it, by an artificial intelligence program as part of a Rutgers University effort. This kind of development is important in the world of creativity for two reasons. One, for the argument that “how machines can handle everything except creative tension and the original idea”. Two, for the promise it is for the directions in which culture can be created and preserved.
Coming first – creativity and the rigid human factor, purists have often argued that the original thinkers and composers – the Carnatic music trinity or Western old masters – are irreplaceable and that their works will continue for hundreds of years. His music has convinced us of this, for sure, so far. Is it that easy for a machine, which uses previous data patterns to build or emulate the composer, to create similar compositions and for them to tolerate as well? Time will tell. But it is now becoming possible for AI programs to replicate frequency and data patterns to an unprecedented degree of aesthetic beauty. The creative intelligence factor, which has long been held up as the only enclave of human superiority over machines, is one that will require further investigation and redefinition.
Coming to the second point, there is certainly a lot of potential in this development. The use of technology (something that arose out of a pandemic) to be able to co-create freely across cultures and geographies, using machine learning to create layers or even bits of creative material To add to, and preserve the potential, this data for future generations to use – it all just got bigger.
at a frantic pace
So where does this leave today’s musician? Somehow, during the pandemic, we are seeing the re-emergence of the old rules. There’s a desperate extremity for share-of-voice, and social media is full of musicians uploading performative and creative content at such a speed that it’s too much for anyone to properly consume. is more frenzied. Everyone is in a hurry to convince the audience that they are still performing, still relevant – and in doing so, they are unfortunately providing us with the same.
Now, factor in the notion that a machine and an AI program could possibly make something more palatable, and perhaps at a fraction of the financial and emotional cost of dealing with people? Where will he leave us?
I offer two solutions, and I’m happy to argue with musicians and creators who may think otherwise. For human creative intelligence to truly achieve its potential, cultural creators now have to be humble and agile. They will need to take a deeper look at their art and try to break their own patterns and discover something inventive that data prediction mechanisms cannot replicate.
Just a week ago, the great minimalist Russian composer, Arvo Part, came to the fore in my conversation with composer Sid Sriram. In a world that was moving towards ornate orchestration, Part aimed for an almost monastic reverence for the perfection of single notes and the silence in his music. It broke the chaos of the times and continued to teach and inspire. Hear the ballads – John Legends and Adeles will all continue to impress even after they die for the same reasons as the cacophony – the simple beauty of the melody with minimal orchestration and noise.
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a sound epidemic where clutter is considered to be more of a trend.
The second solution would be to embrace co-creation and collaboration more freely. Thanks to the possibilities that have now opened up, even musicians from far-flung parts of the world have embraced the Internet, creating more works with different tastes while attempting to strike a specific note. would be a good time to do it.
I am not saying that the era of the individual creator is over. I’m actually arguing for the opposite, though with a caveat. Advance ourselves in our ability to be inventive until we understand what it really means to break a prophecy, an AI program exploits to beat us at the game.
So, yes, creative intelligence is still of great human benefit. But the bar has just been raised high.
The author is a pianist and
Music teacher based in Chennai.
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