There is still a long way to go before machines are able to outdo humans as creators of art. But the truth is that, every day, we are a step closer.
With echoes of the Beatles, a retro feel, perhaps some influence from the 20s and, why not, a bit of Broadway… with these premises, and many more, Sony’s Laboratory of Computer Science in Paris has created the ultimate machine: one capable of composing original songs by itself.
The song lyrics, which for the moment has depended on the imagination of a human being, was the basis for the first musical composition made by artificial intelligence. This machine, created solely for this purpose, works by using a software tool called Flow Machines. It’s “learning” was based on the study of a database of thousands of songs, 13,000 in fact, of all styles, in which jazz and pop were the most common. As a self-taught machine, it has been able to create the basis for its first single: Daddy´s Car.
The composition of its first hit was based mainly on the hits of the Beatles. In addition to this one, another song has also been published: The Ballad of Mr. Shadow, inspired by American musicians such as Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin or Cole Porter.
And although the singles have already been published, the best is yet to come. Sony plans to release the first album of artificial intelligence music in 2107. It still requires human help for the lyrics, production and final mix of the song, but everything will come in its own good time.
