UCLA's Herb Alpert Music School welcomes visionary composer, inventor, and professor Tod Machover on December 6th.
In a thought-provoking talk at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), renowned composer and MIT professor Tod Machover delved into the evolving dynamic of human-AI collaboration in music creation. The talk, titled "Sharing Authorship with AI: Collaborative Composing," highlighted the innovative possibilities, ethical considerations, and broader implications of AI for both the music and technology industries.
Machover, who is the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Director of the Opera of the Future Group at the MIT Media Lab, is celebrated for pioneering Hyperinstruments-A.I. systems that extend a player's expression. His contributions to the forthcoming book "Music and Mind," edited by Renee Fleming, underscore his dedication to exploring the intersection of music and cognitive health.
Beyond the realm of entertainment, Machover is actively engaged in the development of musical technologies with medical and well-being applications. His talk at UCLA likely delved into the potential for user-personalized music for health and wellbeing contexts.
The discussion covered various methods and tools used for collaborative composing with AI, such as AI algorithms that generate musical elements. Machover referenced specific projects where AI was used to enhance or transform musical compositions, highlighting the creative decisions made during these collaborations.
The talk touched on ethical considerations surrounding AI authorship, including questions about who should be credited as the author of a composition created with AI assistance. Machover explored the legal and social implications of shared authorship, including potential changes in copyright laws and the societal perception of creativity.
Machover also highlighted how AI collaboration can lead to new musical styles and genres, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in music composition. He discussed how AI tools make music creation more accessible to people without extensive musical training, democratizing the process of composition.
The talk also addressed potential challenges, such as ensuring the artistic integrity of AI-assisted compositions and balancing human creativity with AI's capabilities. Machover discussed future directions in AI technology that will further enhance collaborative music composition, such as advancements in machine learning algorithms or new interfaces for human-AI interaction.
The talk at UCLA provided a comprehensive overview of the current state of AI in music composition, exploring both its artistic and societal implications. Machover's work, which has been hailed as "America's most wired composer" by The Los Angeles Times and a "musical visionary" by The New York Times, consistently pushes the boundaries of musical innovation.
For more details about Machover's talk and future events, please visit The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Machover also serves as a Visiting Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London and will discuss his large-scale tech opera productions on December 6 at 6 p.m. at Lani Hall on the UCLA campus. Machover's work with the MIT Media Lab significantly influenced the popular video game Guitar Hero. Notable works by Machover include "VALIS" (1987) and "Death and the Powers" (2010), a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Machover's talk at UCLA expounded on the use of AI algorithms in music education and self-development, offering insights into how artificial intelligence can aid novice musicians in honing their skills. The collaboration between humans and AI in music composition, as Machover demonstrated, can also foster the creation of new forms of entertainment, merging technology and music in innovative ways.
