A Banjo, a Fox, Patterns, and AI

When writing a post about interspecies communications a few weeks ago, I remembered seeing a video of a banjo player entertaining a wild fox. I viewed it during the 2021 pandemic while studying data management and AI.

I didn’t initially make a direct connection between interspecies communication, music, and AI until recently, and I decided to backtrack for more research.

Andy Thorn and Foxy

Andy Thorn is a talented banjo player with Leftover Salmon, a highly respected bluegrass band. Andy lives in Colorado and has a home high in the Rocky Mountains. In 2021, he released two viral videos of a red fox enjoying his music, followed by a popular album, Songs of the Sunrise Fox, in 2022.

In April 2023, Andy presented a fascinating and entertaining talk at TEDx in Breckenridge, CO, entitled How the Patterns in Nature Echo into Music.

Patterns in Music, Nature, and AI

Although AI was not mentioned during Andy’s talk, it must have been on the minds of some of the audience because OpenAI had just released its first version of ChatGPT five months earlier. By then, the AI gold rush was fully underway.

Andy’s thesis was that patterns in nature resemble patterns in music because both are repetitive and have similar structures. In AI, pattern recognition is fundamental because it enables machine learning systems to identify regularities and trends, even if they may be obscure or indistinguishable from other data. Pattern recognition is a foundational element that empowers AI platforms to perform a wide range of tasks quickly and efficiently.

Musical structures and patterns are not just intriguing; they are significant pathways for new AI tools to enhance music composition and production. Moreover, since music is a universal language, AI algorithms based on musical concepts are being developed to improve cultural communication, foster inter-species communication, increase security through musical cryptography, and better understand the universe. The potential of AI in these areas is truly inspiring.

To the Stars and Beyond!

Using the Hubble Telescope, astronomers have discovered star systems in which the planets’ orbits create precise, rhythmic patterns. For example, planets in the HD110067 system circle their star in highly synchronized orbits. What’s genuinely awe-inspiring is that scientists have translated these orbital patterns into musical compositions. This creates beautiful music and helps us understand the formation and evolution of such systems.

For More Info

To see Andy Thorn’s presentation at TEDx, see this YouTube video: How the Patterns in Nature Echo into Music. Visit their website, leftoversalmon.com, to learn more about the band.

To listen to the harmonic resonance of HD110067, click https://youtu.be/U8jQEnpQfBM.

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This post was written with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot.