In this age of rapid technological development, the border between human creativity and machine assistance is getting thinner with each passing day. One of the most amazing examples of this fusion is the emergence of AI-generated music. Still, in that new territory, the question has to be asked: is AI-generated music actually music? Art?
For understanding, let's throw some light on AI music creation and another field of art that has similarly developed a heritage of confusion: photography. Suppose you are a photographer, standing in front of some breathtaking landscape. You have a camera in your hands—an extremely powerful tool that is able to take a picture of the green beauty in front of you with the most astounding accuracy. But it is not the camera that decided the angle, the framing, or the moment to press the shutter. This was your decision—the photographer's vision and intent—that distinguishes a simple snapshot from a piece of art.
AI-related work with music works in a similar way—an AI is an advanced tool that composers and musicians, or even lay people like you and me, will start using in order to model one's ideas into life. The melodies, harmonies, and rhythms created with AI are guided by human input, direction, and creativity. The machine carries the burden and processes amounts of information to create something novel, but the vision is from the human artist, and the final touch is the human artist's skill.
At present, most of the pictures we appreciate have already passed through a series of important edits—cropped, colors corrected, filters, and sometimes even manipulations. And they are still considered art, as the skill of the photographer shown in post-processing is an extension of their vision but not a detractor from it.
It was inside the boom in photography, which had suddenly become quick, that the changes were all up in the early 2000s. This renaissance was greeted with skepticism and disbelief on the part of many photographers. The confusion in their minds was how digital technology could better the finesse of art. At first, the skeptics outright dismissed digital photography as "real" art. However, technology advanced and digital cameras were in everyday use. Today, every reference photographer uses a digital camera, and no one spends any time in the darkroom developing pictures.
The very fact that art could be revolutionized by technology without losing artistic integrity is very crucial for any human who thinks of dismissing AI-generated music as "not real music" just because it is developed with the help of machines. There are some similarities between the two views, as both possess the quality of suppressing the very human implementation, which is essential in both processes. The crux of art lies in the expression, emotion, and creativity—all of these lie firmly in the territory of the artist, irrespective of which tools they may use.
And, for that fact, AI-generated music is a new domain for exploration and creativity. Just as the photographers of a few decades back were able to capture images in ways nobody ever thought of, similarly today, the musicians are capable of doing with new soundscapes, compositions, and styles through the lens of AI. This is where the possibilities based on the music inherent in the interaction between man and machine acquire new extension.
AI-generated music is not the product of algorithms and code; it is a new channel of human expression. Similarly, the art of photography, which developed from a mechanical process to a complete digital form, would be AI-generated music with time—a testimony to human creativity and ingenuity. It challenges us to push the boundaries of art and music, to embrace new tools and means that have become available to us in our artistic pursuits.
Real music should touch every listener, inspire them, and move them, regardless of whether the melody is human-made or AI-produced. What is definitely true is that through AI, innumerable latent songs within us can be unlocked, and ideas and emotions can be voiced that otherwise remain silent. Mastering this technology could be the turning point for man to define normal and set free a symphony of creativity on Earth. What if we unleash this potential? Musical expression, almost without any restriction, will set up routes for art we couldn't think of before.
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