Can machines create?

“Can machines think?” Over 70 years after Alan Turing began a paper with this question, there are still debates about the question as the question is hopelessly ambiguous. The answer depends on how we define thinking, the process of thinking and the impact of a thinking process. But what about creativity? Can machines create?

In recent years, there has been great academic interest in applying deep learning to creative tasks such as creating texts, images or music – with fascinating results. The research interest in these generative models is based on the assumption that generating new, similar data is only possible by learning an essential understanding of the nature of the input data. Technically speaking, Deep Learning models can only learn the statistical patterns of the data. Thus, they often can learn relationships in the data that human observers have not been aware of, and thereby serve as a new source of inspiration for human creativity.

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Inside Futurelab: AI meets Music

Similar to the question of thinking, the answer to the question of creativity lies also in how we define creativity, the creative process and the impact of a creative process. It also includes human involvement and the extent to which humans were part of the creative process. While the development of AI-based creative applications has seen a surge of considerable advances in recent years, interaction and collaboration between these systems and humans was not given much attention. Due to the rather limited interaction possibilities, the output of the system cannot be influenced satisfactorily by human users. The use of new, collaborative interaction possibilities could create new possibilities in which humans and AI systems can develop their creative potential together.

Given this lack of satisfactory interaction possibilities, our research focuses not only on the technological aspects of AI in creative and artistic applications, but also on new ways of interaction and collaboration between humans and AI systems.

Key Projects

Ricercar

Mahler Unfinished

How Machines See Music

AI & Music

Additional Information

Publications

Artificial Creation of Meaning? The Fascination and Limitations of AI-based Music Composition, Daejeon Biennale 2020 catalogue (Daejeon Museum of Art) [English, Korean]

Die Simulation der Kreativität: Können Maschinen kreativ sein?
Ali Nikrang, Wissenschaftsjahr 2019, Künstliche Intelligenz, 22.11.2019 (Scientific year 2019, Articial Intelligence)

Automatic estimation of harmonic tension by distributed representation of chords: Ali Nikrang, David Sears, and Gerhard Widmer, International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research, Matosinhos, Porto, 25-28th September 2017. (Printed as a part of revised selected papers in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 11265)

Nikrang, A., Collins, T., and Widmer, G. (2014). PatternViewer: An Application for Exploring Repetitive and Tonal Structure. In Late-Brake Demo of the Proc. of the 15th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference, Taipei, Taiwan. 19

Interactive Visualisation of Musical Structure with a Focus on Automatic Pattern Discovery (Master thesis, Johannes Kepler University, 2014)

Talks

Keynote “Künstliche Intelligenz und Kreativität: Eine technische Perspektive”,
WIKOIN 2022 – Wissenschaftskongress in Ingolstadt (anlässlich des 550. Jubiläums der ersten Bayerischen Landesuniversität), 01.07.22

Panel “Künstliche Intelligenz, Kunst und Kreativität”, WIKOIN 2022 – Wissenschaftskongress in Ingolstadt (anlässlich des 550. Jubiläums der ersten Bayerischen Landesuniversität), 01.07.22

(Wie) Kann K.I. Kunst? Technische und geisteswissenschaftliche Perspektiven im Dialog, Dozent bei dem dreitägigen Seminar der Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, 8-10.04.2022

Künstliche Intelligenz & Kunst – ein Widerspruch? Vortrag bei der Ringvorlesung Künstliche Intelligenz und Digitalisierung in Kunst, Kultur und Gesellschaft, Technische Hochschule Aschaffenburg, 05.04.2022

AI Creativity in the Light of Arts and Music, Microwave New Media Arts Festival (Hong Kong), Unconference 反轉研討會 2021. together with Alexander Mankowsky, Philipp Jordan and Diane To, 9.11.2021

Artistic Journalism meets Artificial Intelligence: Understanding AI. Lecture together with Hideaki Ogawa and Andreas Bauer (featuring Ali Nikrang from minute 52:00). 29.10.2021

The Question of Autonomy and Human Intention in Art & AI (Episode II), Panel together with the visual artist Davide Quayola, sound artists Paola Torres Núñez del Prado and Leslie Garcia
presented at Ars Electronica Festival 2021 in the framework of the European ARTificial Intelligence Lab, 11.09.2021

NAKED AI, Panel and performance as a part of the screening of Cisco and Logotel produced documentary (Naked AI) about artificial intelligence and human creativity at Ars Electronica Festival 2021. Together with Daniele Cerra, Anna Milani, Vincenzo Scagliarini, 11.09.2021

The Question of Autonomy and Human Intention in Art and AI. A panel together with Maya Indira Ganesh, Isabella Salas and Yuri Suzuki, MUTEK Festival Montréal, Canada, 27.08.2021

AI & Musical Creativity
Daejeon Biennale 2020 AI, DAEJEON MUSEUM OF ART, 30.12.2020

Artistic Journalism: AI x Music
with Hideaki Ogawa, Ars Electronica, 12.11.2020

Inside Futurelab: Ricercar
Ars Electronica, 8.12.2020

DEMO: The Big AI-Jam — AI meets musical diversity
Ars Electronica Festival 2020

AIxMusic — Artificial Stupidity
Moisés Horta-Valenzuela, Artemi-Maria Gioti, Ali Nikrang, Alex Braga and Portrait XO
Streamed live on September 13, 2020

Artificial Creativity or Enhanced Humanity
Christine Payne (OpenAI), Lamtharn Hantrakul (Google Magenta), Ali Nikrang (Ars Electronica Futurelab) and Clara Blume (Open Austria)
Streamed live on September 13, 2020

Ars Electronica Mix: Inside Futurelab AI meets Music
Streamed live on May 13, 2020

Vortrag: Wenn Computer Emotionen in uns hervorbringen, AI x Music exhibition, AEC
18. January 2020

Simulation der Genialität – KI trifft auf klassische Musik, Globart Academy
19 October 2019

Automatic Music Generation with Deep Learning Fascination, Challenges and Constraints, Ars Electronica Festival 2019

Get Inspired — Linz 2027

Creative AI – Style Transfer, Ars Electronica Festival
2018

Automatic estimation of harmonic tension by distributed representation of chords. International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR), Matosinhos, Porto, 25-28th September 2017

Deep Space LIVE: Künstliche Intelligenz — die Revolution hinter dem Hype

Streif trifft auf Artificial Intelligence, Lange Nacht der Forschung, AEC Linz 2018

Media

Musik von Künstlicher Intelligenz beim Wissenschaftskongress in Ingolstadt, BR-Klassik, 30.06.2022

Applaus – aber niemand sitzt am Klavier? Ein Konzert mit Künstlicher Intelligenz, Augsburger-allgemeine, 01.07.2022

Komposition einer Künstlichen Intelligenz aufgeführt, Bayerische Rundfunk, 30.06.2022

Weltpremiere: Das Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt spielt Kl-Kompositionen mit selbstspielendem Flügel, kulturfreak.de, 21.06.2022

Sounding Letters — Visualized AI/Human composed piano performance, 22.10.2021

Deep Space: AI-composed music, performed by humans, 13.07.2021

Creative (Artificial) Intelligence, Inside Futurelab: 25th Anniversary Series — Episode 3 , 04.06.2021

Algorithmen – Warum sie schwarze Menschen diskriminieren
BR Fernsehen , 05.12.2020

Naked-AI, What happens when Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity meet?
Cisco Italia/Logotel Documentary, 25.11.2020

Composition from the can
including short demos from our Ricercar and MuseNet (OpenAI), Deutsche Welle, 14.11.2020

Digital Data in major and minor
Ars Electronica Blog, 29.10.2020

“So würden wir Menschen nicht komponieren“
Volksblatt, 28.10.2020

Of rhythms and algorithms
Ars Electronica Blog, 13.10.2020

Musik bei der Ars Electronica: Echte Gefühle, frisch aus der Maschine
Salzburger Nachrichten, 07.09.2020

AI x MUSIC: Artificial Creativity or Enhanced Humanity
[Time code: 00:00-55:20]
Panel discussion at Ars Electronica Festival 2020, 13.09.2020

Das Ende des Genie-Kults. Kann Künstliche Intelligenz besser als Beethoven sein? Wo bleibt die Kreativität, wenn Algorithmen komponieren? Über das Zusammenspiel von künstlerischer Kreativität und künstlicher Intelligenz.
3SAT, Kulturzeit, 02.07.2020

Kann Künstliche Intelligenz besser als Beethoven sein?
ORF, Kulturmontag, 29.6.2020

Der Code des Künstlers, TV Documentation, Artificial Intelligence
Bayerischer Rundfunk, 22.10.2019

AIxMusic Festival 2019
Ars Electronica Documentation, 03.10.2019

AIxMusic Dialogue I – Komposition, Interpretation, Reproduction — 3 shades of creativity
Dorf TV, 02.10.2019

Radiokolleg, (Maschinenmusik)
Austrian Public Radio Ö1, 30.09.2019

AI Making Musical Strides with MuseNet
Seeflection, 25.09.2019

Matrix, (Ars Electronica Festival)
Austrian Public Radio Ö1, 16.09.201

Completan sinfonia de Gustav Mahler usando Inteligencia Artificial
El Siglo de Torreón, 11.09.2019

AIがクラシックの巨匠と肩を並べた？マーラー未完の曲を「完成」
AFPBB, 10.09.2019

Stejně dobrá jako Mahler? Umělá inteligence dokončuje nehotovou symfonii
Časopis 100+1, 10.9.2019

Ars Electronica 2019: Wie künstlich ist die Musik
Heise online, 10.9.2019

AI as good as Mahler? Austrian orchestra performs symphony with twist
France24, 07.09.2019