Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly advancing and is expected to touch almost every aspect of our lives. One of the areas where AI has already made an impact is music. In recent years, AI has been used to create music, and it has sparked a debate on creativity vs originality. In this blog post, we'll explore the pros and cons of using AI in music composition.
AI in Music Composition
AI-powered software and machine learning algorithms analyze vast amounts of music data to create new music. AI can be programmed to mimic the styles of particular composers or create something entirely new based on a body of knowledge. AI-based music composition tools like Amper, AIVA, and OpenAI�s MuseNet can create music in different genres like classical, pop, rock, and jazz.
On the one hand, AI can potentially create more music than human composers ever could, faster and for less money. AI software is capable of analyzing and learning from a vast amount of music data, which allows it to create hundreds of unique song ideas in a matter of hours. This means that the music industry could potentially make more money and also have more creative freedom with the advent of AI-generated music.
On the other hand, some argue that AI-generated music is not creative or that it is less original than human-made music. This is because AI is simply learning patterns from pre-existing works, and thus, it seems unlikely that AI could come up with anything truly unique. This argument also states that AI lacks the human touch; it cannot capture emotions, create conceptual themes or connect to the audience in the same way that human composers can.
Analysis of AI-Generated Music
To understand whether AI-generated music is creative, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology ran a study. Participants were asked to listen to a collection of songs and rate their creativity. Some songs were composed by humans, and others were generated through AI algorithms.
The result of the study showed that most participants could not distinguish between the two kinds of music. Even though some participants preferred the human-generated music, they admitted that the AI-generated compositions had more creativity and originality. This research suggests that AI-generated music can be just as creative as human-made music.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI-generated music has its pros and cons. While it lends itself to creating more music at a faster pace and for less money, it may lack the human touch and emotional impact that human-made music provides. However, this doesn't mean that AI-generated music isn't creative or original. In fact, research suggests that AI-generated music can be as creative and original as human-made music.
AI-generated music opens up new avenues of creativity and innovation in the music industry. It's likely that we'll see more music collaborations between humans and AI-generated music in the future.
References
- Thaler, W., 2020. AI and music: will we be slaves to the algorithm?. Digital Music News. [online] Available at: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/02/26/ai-and-music-creativity/ [Accessed 21 October 2021].
- Gaetano, M., 2021. Are AI-Generated Songs Really �Creative��Or Is That Just Marketing? muse by Clio. [online] Available at: https://musebycl.io/music/are-ai-generated-songs-really-creative-or-just-marketing [Accessed 21 October 2021].
- Chen, K. et al., 2020. Assessing the Creativity and Originality of AI-Generated Music via the MIR-ED Framework. ACM Transactions on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 13(2), p.1-24. Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3386569 [Accessed 21 October 2021].