I wonder how long it would take today’s super computers to run through every possible variation of musical notes of a four bar length. Tempo, rhythm, pitch, duration – to us the possible combinations seem infinite… but, of course, they aren’t.
In the podcast I linked to yesterday, Ezra Klein mentioned a classic period sci-fi story he read years ago. The short story described a musician who composes a piece for his wife. When the musician finds out that his composition is not original and that, in fact, an AI somewhere already created the same sequence of chords and the exact same melody… he kills himself.
If a super computer or AI could run every possible sequence of musical notes and the owners of the AI were allowed to copyright all of those variations… what would that mean for humans?
I find this an interesting topic that can open up into a vast conversation about creativity and originality, about individuality and uniqueness.
>If a super computer or AI could run every possible sequence of musical notes and the owners of the AI were allowed to copyright all of those variations… what would that mean for humans?
It would not surprise me one bit to find out that an AI/supercomputer at some research facility somewhere has already sequenced the 479001600 12-tone sequences without any rhythmic variation applied and they are currently computing that as an additional variation.
Perhaps at this very moment lobbyists are being prepared to intervene on behalf of the tech companies to give them authorship and copyright. :-)
Google will probably own all the melodies someday …
They seem to have a lot of computers on hand ;^)
I try to explain my thought in english… Do you know « A diary of a soul » by Thérèse de Lisieux ? She describes what is going on in her soul and her love for God. She is influenced by her time but her search for God is personal. For me everything is possible… Robots that will have emotions, will replace humans or other things ! But when I wonder what I will find at the moment of death my answer is love. For me, love is Jesus. A lot of people search Jesus, Buddha, Allah or other things… And each path is unique… Do you think that nothing is created, everything is transformed ?
if the technology is that advanced and there is money to be made- yep some tech company may copyright. It will be a shame but i am sure humans will survive and adopt.
creation is life…something new way will emerge it always does.
sometimes …not thinking /searching/seeking/analyzing is best.
or take action …unite against the tech industry – generative AI technology
How big is the music industry ? Who are the key POWER players? Fight hard for your beliefs!