European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) is a project of the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA).
How can an AI-tool play music together with a human musician?
Gérard Assayag: By listening to music our computer program creates a kind of cartographic map of what is being played by connecting relevant patterns. Based on this map it has to decide how to go on. In the beginning it was only recombining existing elements in a free way. That program was Omax. Then we created a new program, Somax, that was navigating the map by being constantly guided by what the musicians were playing. It would connect regions of the map that continuously fit with the evolving live musical context, which makes a huge difference. It gives the feeling that the computer is really paying attention. Other programs we created such as Djazz and Dyci2 focus on diverse other aspects of interaction, planning and intention.