Some Thoughts on Music and AI
Some Thoughts on Music and Artificial Intelligence
The emergence of AI generated works of art and music has raised more than a few eyebrows. Art experts have been unable to discern AI from human-generated images, AI programs are now capable of generating musical mash ups encompassing virtually any style or genre, and it is alarmingly easy to generate an essay on virtually any topic. It is hard not to marvel at the ability of the computer savvy minds capable of creating these programs and there can be no doubt that in at least some sense this is an achievement. This aside, it is very necessary to approach such developments with caution and a degree of scepticism, if not outright indignation. If computers can generate any form of art and music we wish where does that leave composers and artists? Out of pocket and undervalued is the likely answer, and there’s nothing new there in a world where making ends meet as any form of artist is increasingly tough.
Despite calls from experts, including those who developed some of these programs in the first place, it is already too late to slow the momentum with which AI is developing. AI has effectively become the new arms race; the many exciting possibilities and applications in fields such as medicine and disease control are balanced against the rather more ominous military potentials, and these in turn against the very real possibility that we may ultimately find ourselves outwitted by what we have created.
My initial reaction to AI generated music was dismissive. So what? AI music will never replace that created by human ears. Yes, on some level it is impressive that you can feed a machine hundreds of thousands of pieces of music and have it regurgitate ‘new’ music in any style. But impressive in any artistic sense? No. It’s meaningless. Music is what it is, has the significance that it does for so many because it is produced and performed by fellow humans, beings that are just as flawed, fallible, and complex as the rest of us. It means something to us, whatever that may be.
In some ways it is not surprising that a computer can produce music in this way as much of music operates within an established system. In music such as that of say Mozart or Beethoven this is based on certain established expectations, such as a cadence at the end of a phrase, what we might call formulae, and which, often retrospectively, are referred to as ‘rules’. A composers’ skill lies in the way they manipulate these ‘rules’, playing with what we, the listener, may expect. Take the transition from second to third movement of Beethoven's Emperor concerto. The second movement is in B major and the finale in Eb. At the end of the Adagio a single B is held which falls to a Bb, the dominant of Eb major, the key of the finale. This is not an expected chromatic shift and one which follows no previous ‘rules’. Would AI be capable of coming up with such an original idea? Will AI ever create original music, that is not based on music already written? There are perhaps more questions here than answers.
And yet AI has already begun replacing composers. Just Google ‘AI music generator’ and you will find links to programs that will create music of any length, character, style and so on. These programs are often specifically aimed at film makers, a form of music which seems particularly susceptible to the encroachment of AI. I want to believe AI will never replace composers and authors and painters as it will never have the meaningful relationship with art and art-creation that humans do, but in a world increasingly at odds with culture it is sadly not hard to imagine.
Only time will tell. Whatever the future holds AI causes us to examine the nature of our own relationship with art and the reasons behind why we create and continue to celebrate it. In this regard an interesting question is whether or not AI, once far enough autonomous – as seems inevitable – will chose to generate art of its own? As autonomous beings ourselves, perhaps we are well placed to understand this question.
Putting aside for a moment the many meanings and significances which great art holds for us, as well as any personal spiritual or religious belief system, let’s think about things more coldly. The feelings that we experience when listening to music are simply the result of sound captured by the ear, turned into electrical signals which in turn cause further chemical and electrical reactions in the brain, creating a ‘feeling’, feelings such as happiness, awe, calm, etc. From an evolutionary point of view these feelings are hugely beneficial as they make us happier, help us to continue wanting to survive, giving us greater potential for procreation. Put in such cold terms, the mystery of art is reduced to a survival mechanism reduceable to numbers and therefore not beyond AI. I’m sure there are many, myself included, who will naturally recoil when reading this statement; surely art can’t simply have evolved with us as another means of survival? Surely it has some deeper, spiritual significance?
But is this so bad? Schopenhauer reduced art in a similar way, asserting that music was a manifestation of ‘Will’, the underlying unity which connects all things and the fundamental driving force behind our most basic desire to continue existing, despite the struggle which can be life (Schopenhauer was a little less cheerful than this). Such a view of music (and art in general) doesn’t diminish its meaning or significance. Instead it connects it with the most fundamental element of existence: the desire to exist. Is it mere coincidence that so many music lovers feel they couldn’t continue to exist without it? Or at very least that our existence would be a far more miserable experience were we to no longer be able to listen to music?
Reducing music (other art forms are also relevant here but I keep returning to music as it is my field of expertise) in such terms does little to diminish its meaning to us. For me its meaning stems from the act and therefore reason of its creation. I always return to Beethoven in this regard. Beethoven suffered from profound, albeit gradual, loss of hearing. An ailment most feared by musicians and music lovers. The realisation of his condition caused Beethoven to go so far as to consider ending his life. He found a way through this due to his belief that he had something to offer to his fellow human through the creation of music. What moves me most when listening to Beethoven’s music – especially the great works written after this crisis – is how he suffered greatly for his art. He lived in squalid conditions, lonely, without the companionship of a partner, and yet he continued to compose some of the most joyful, ecstatic, life-affirming, and elevating music ever written. This colossal gift to humanity was born out of generosity and empathy, two qualities I always hear in Beethoven’s music and surely two of the more beautiful characteristics of which human beings are capable. For Beethoven music was a means of survival and there have been times in my life when listening to his music has amounted to the same thing. Music then as a survival mechanism, as an expression of our desire to be, in no way lessens its meaning or profundity, on the contrary it is what is most profound about its nature.
To return to the original point of investigation, will AI ever replace composers, the answer may well be ‘yes and no’. It already has done so in some way with film makers now able to use AI to generate their own soundtracks without any composer required and at far lower cost. But in another, more profound sense the answer is ‘it hasn’t even come close’. So far at least. The question is how AI will evolve from here. If it really obtains autonomy then it will find the most efficient, effective and productive way to exist, whether at our expense or not. Whether art creation would be a part of this is questionable. Perhaps when a consciousness reaches a certain level of intelligence, becomes aware of its own existence, and is able to question the point and nature of its being, it requires other mechanisms to make existence bearable. At this level the creation of art is not just a possibility but a necessity. The life-affirming feeling music can provide is exactly that. It gives us a reason to continue and the positive feelings and emotions it creates make our existence a more meaningful and bearable experience. Life is painful and music can make us feel less alone. Perhaps if the price of autonomy is to question, to suffer, and to feel, then AI will require similar such mechanisms?