A new generation of music-making algorithms is here
Their most useful application may lie in helping human composers
IN THE dystopia of George Orwell’s novel “1984”, Big Brother numbs the masses with the help of a “versificator”, a machine designed to automatically generate the lyrics to popular tunes, thereby ridding society of human creativity. Today, numerous artificial-intelligence (AI) models churn out, some free of charge, the music itself. Unsurprisingly, many fear a world flooded with generic and emotionally barren tunes, with human musicians edged out in the process. Yet there are brighter signs, too, that AI may well drive a boom in musical creativity.
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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Algorithm and blues”
From the March 23rd 2024 edition
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