• Project Title: Is Artificial Intelligence Music Taking Over? Mapping the Future Relationship between Musicians and AI

  • BASIS Advisor: Raul Rivera Pun

  • Internship Location: NYU

  • Onsite Mentor: Dr. Jean-Claude

Structural unemployment has always been problematic. Representing people who were fired due to their ability being no longer useful, it is difficult for them to get back to work because this commonly means they have to adopt a new ability. This has been the case for numerous jobs, such as human calculators and computers. Seeing the rise of artificial intelligence in the music industry, I am curious at whether in the future AI will continue to assist musicians or render them obsolete. In my senior research project, I will be attempting to answer this question by analyzing current research on Artificial Intelligence music software/hardware and connecting with experts within this area. For my research project, I am working remotely with Dr. Jean-Claude Franchitti of New York University. Dr. Franchitti focuses on research in the fields of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and I am working with him and his teaching assistant on my research about the degree of independence of emerging AI music-making software and their potential impact on (human) musicians.

My first method of research is through running and analyzing MIDI databases and algorithms that contribute to AI composition software under development. Another important way that I will gather information is through conducting interviews with experts in this field of research. I expect to obtain a greater understanding of the fundamental workings of current artificial intelligence composition software and make predictions on how future AI music software might change the music industry. As a music maker with a keen interest in the relationship between machine learning technologies and related jobs, this research project is particularly intriguing to me, since I am eager to find out what could be the future of the music industry. Predicting future changes and impacts of AI music software could potentially answer the question of whether AI will help or harm musicians in the future, which is the main significance of my project.