14 Markings - Beethoven vs Bot-hoven

LIMELIGHT magazine August 2017 page 13

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MUSIC

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to become the most groundbreaking and defining technology of the 21st century. But what exactly comes to mind when people think about AI? Programs that can beat you at poker? Robots that can perform complex tasks with perfection? Or perhaps autonomous beings that are on the verge of replacing your job?

When we think about AI, we often look at those areas where humans can easily be replaced: high-level computation, manual labour, or data-driven optimization. Yet, there is now a new wave of emerging potential for AI in creative industries – one of which happens to be musical composition.

Aiva Technologies is one of the leading startups in the field of AI music composition. It was founded just last year in Luxembourg and London by Pierre Barreau, Denis Shtefan, Arnaud Decker, and Vincent Barreau.

They have created an AI called “Aiva” (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) and taught it how to compose classical music – an emotional art which is usually considered to be a uniquely human quality. Aiva’s musical pieces are used as soundtracks for film directors, advertising agencies, and even game studios.