AI Composed Art and Music - can you hear the Distinctive Weird Sound?

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool not only for solving complex problems but also in the creation of creative content. From music composition to visual arts and literature, AI is starting to be used as a tool for creation in a variety of fields. Whilst this is an exciting development, we must ask ourselves if the art created by AI is limited?

A Youtuber named Rick Beato asked himself this very question in a video titled ‘I Told You This Was Going to Happen'. In this video, Beato mentions an experiment he ran on a group of students where he played ten songs to them, five were made by humans and five were made by AI. His goal was to see whether these students could determine which songs were AI and which were human. These songs, to my untrained ear, all sounded as though a human had made them. However, some of the students were able to weed out the AI generated songs, much to my amazement. It seems that, to someone who knows what they are looking for, AI cannot yet perfectly replicate human creation. This difference appears hard to pick and, in the video, AI songs are described as having a 'weird' sound to it or 'echo' in the voice. Whilst I am unfortunately unable to tell an AI song from a human song, I do have thoughts on the topic with questions that need to be answered.

Do we have our New Chart Toppers in AI?

With algorithms trained on vast datasets of musical compositions spanning different genres and styles, AI systems can now generate “original” pieces of music that rival those composed by human musicians. I am employing the use of the quotation marks to identify that whilst the piece generated is an AI original, it is trained off and inspired by human creators. Whether it's creating symphonies, pop songs, or experimental electronic music, AI demonstrates a remarkable ability to mimic and innovate upon established musical conventions.

However, there are many questions that must be posed in the process of AI generating new music. The question on my mind is, can AI compositions be considered authentic or original, considering they draw from existing musical styles and compositions? Will we ever get to a point where AI can truly create as humans do? It is hard to have answers to these questions right now, but important to dwell on as we continue to evolve with AI.

What About the Capability of Unregulated Image Creation?

AI is revolutionising the creative process by enabling artists to explore new techniques and styles that were previously inaccessible. From generating realistic portraits to producing abstract compositions, AI algorithms can analyse vast datasets of images and learn to replicate and remix visual patterns in innovative ways. Artists are leveraging AI tools to enhance their creativity, experiment with new ideas, and push the boundaries of traditional artistic mediums.

However, the rise of AI-generated art poses unique challenges for copyright law. Who owns the rights to a piece of art created using AI algorithms? Can AI-generated artworks be considered original creations deserving of copyright protection, or are they mere reproductions of existing works?

More significantly, do AI generated images pose problems without proper regulations. In a world where deep-fakes videos and images exist, it is almost impossible to tell whether a video or image is authentic or faked. Perhaps pushing AI image and video creation to its furthest potential is a road we do not want to travel down?

AI in Literature

AI is challenging the notion of what it means to be a writer. From generating poetry and short stories to assisting authors in the writing process, AI systems are reshaping the literary landscape in profound ways. With algorithms capable of analysing vast corpora of text and learning linguistic patterns, AI can produce coherent narratives that captivate readers and blur the line between human and machine-generated content.

With all this being said, it is still rather easy to identify when a story is written by AI. It is usually rife with cliché and uses outlandish language. It does not seem like any AI model currently in general use can craft language to create highly emotive and captivating narratives like a fluent writer or author can.

Downfalls and Limitations of AI in Creativity

Despite its remarkable advancements, artificial intelligence still faces significant limitations and downfalls in the realm of creativity. One of the primary challenges lies in the ability of AI systems to truly understand and embody the nuanced aspects of human creativity, such as emotional depth, intuition, and personal experience. While AI algorithms can generate impressive imitations of artistic styles and techniques, they often lack the ability to imbue their creations with genuine emotion or meaning. Additionally, AI-generated content can sometimes feel formulaic, lacking the spontaneity and originality that characterises human creativity. Rather than purely creating from scratch, AI systems are typically trained on vast datasets of human-created content, ranging from music compositions and visual artworks to literary works and beyond. These datasets serve as the foundation upon which AI algorithms learn to analyse and replicate patterns, styles, and techniques present in human creations. While AI can produce impressive outputs based on this learned knowledge, its creations are ultimately influenced and shaped by the biases, preferences, and limitations inherent in the human-generated data it learns from.

Conclusion

While artificial intelligence has made significant strides in enhancing creativity across various domains, it still grapples with inherent limitations that prevent it from fully replicating the depth and richness of human creativity. As AI continues to evolve, it's essential to recognise its potential as a tool for enhancing human creativity rather than replacing it entirely. By embracing the relationship between AI and human creation, we can continue to evolve new possibilities for artistic expression while preserving the unique element of human creativity.