AI composers vs human composers

Can artificial intelligence programs compose pleasing music? I would answer yes. Can they match many human composers? Yes.

But are human composers at risk of losing their jobs? Not a chance.

As I responded at First Things:

Brian Eno has done similar work on what he calls generative music.

I am a composer who happens to have the gift of being able to listen to a musical style and quickly compose something that sounds similar. Each style, and each particular song, has its own patterns. They’re not too difficult to recognize if one knows what to look for. Though no AI system can match human logic, much less human creativity, I believe music theory and pattern recognition could be programmed well enough that software could create pleasing music.

But note the composers who Cope’s program is touted against. The music of Mozart and Bach is more straightforward and symmetrical than that of Romantics like Beethoven or Tchaikovsky. There is more reliance on modulation (repeating a pattern from a different base note). The music appeals more to intellect than emotion. It more often evokes general moods than takes one on emotional adventures.

Has an AI yet created a masterpiece with mass popularity? Or can an AI start a new musical movement?

I can trust that Cope’s software is capable of creating pleasing music. I have experienced Eno’s generative music in a game called Spore, and it performs well as environmental music. But software will always have limits which human beings do not. I’m reminded of the film War Games.

Let’s not forget that music publishers have tried for generations to codify popular styles and churn out hit songs by formula. Undoubtedly, they have had much success… but not as much as they would like.