How do we (want to) make music with artificial intelligence? What does it mean to do so—and is it even a good idea? How might we artfully design tools and systems that balance machine automation and human interaction? More broadly, how do we want to live with our technologies? Are there—and ought there be—limits to using AI for art? (And what is Art, anyway?) Together, we will pose some of these critical questions in music and AI. As a case study, we will unpack what we learned from teaching “Music and AI,” a critical-making course at Stanford, and ponder the power of human creativity in regarding AI not as an “oracle,” but as a tool for creative expression.

Ge Wang, associate professor of music and, by courtesy, of computer science