How artificial intelligence can aid and replace higher order human creativity Posted on : Mar 21 - 2018

Much is made of AI augmenting human intelligence with simple automation, but might higher order human creativity go the same way?

Technology is an integral part of composer Kate Simko’s work. As well as writing for film and television, she founded the London Electronic Orchestra, which combines classical instruments with electronic music.

Although she may start composing with paper, pencil and piano, she switches to Avid’s Sibelius notation software to write a full score: “From there, you’re able to take the notation and export it as Midi data or the actual sheet music,” she says, referring to the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (Midi) technical standard.

Software also lets Simko listen to her compositions before rehearsals start. For the London Electronic Orchestra, she tests how classical instrument parts will work with the electronic elements by using samples of the former.

At a basic level, many classical musicians use iPads rather than printed sheet music: “Technology has infiltrated classic music, and it’s the norm,” says Simko.

She sees potential for software which could find errors such as sonic clashes between different instruments in an orchestral score. Having noticed how easily her baby son picks up music compared with words, Simko also wonders if music could act as a bridge between artificial and human intelligence.

But her enthusiasm for technology does not extend to artificial intelligence (AI) systems that compose music. “Music composition is art and expression,” Simko says. “Music has this power, it’s non-verbal communication between human beings.” Unless AI has something to communicate, how can it be creative?

Computers ‘set up to be creative’

Ed Newton-Rex, who composes for choirs, says JS Bach demonstrated how the greatest creative artists draw on a wide range of qualities.

“It wasn’t just his knowledge of music, although that was a big part of it,” he says. “It was also his fervent religious belief and very high sense of academic rigour.”

Until machines can encompass these, they are not likely to compose anything rivalling the Goldberg Variations.

Nevertheless, as the founder of AI music composer Jukedeck, Newton-Rex thinks computers are capable of creativity. He says creativity can be defined as immersion, assimilation and recombination.

“You could say computers are quite well set up to do that. They can immerse themselves in data, they can assimilate features of that data, they can recombine that data,” he adds. View More