Mike, et al, In the distant past I have worked with creative composers to create two very different programs to compose music.
The logic of these programs was more in deciding what NOT to do than what TO do, so there was generous use of a random number generator, followed by logic that rejected most selections. A common situational challenge was that there was no acceptable next note, so time to back up or start over. While this fit the "programmed" model you so like to reject, it ALSO reflected the mindset of most composers. Sure there is an occasional maverick who deviates from one of the many patterns, and in so doing creates a new pattern, like switching between a major and a minor key in mid-piece. However, people like these are in the EXTREME minority - about as rare as malfunctioning computers, so you could run less creative programs on many computers, and sometimes be surprised over what a malfunction might bring. For a good discussion of these deviations, you might watch the now-unfolding story aboutf the lawsuits over the piece *Blurred Lines*, which is a highly creative piece that borrows from another piece, but in ways that are so subtle as to probably NOT violate (present) copyright laws. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU Apparently, creative music CAN be composed by an expert system designed to do that. The amazingly simple rules for such systems come from centuries of creative composers. Such a computer would probably NOT create these deviations, but then again, neither do most composers. It appears that creativity comes at more than one level. A computer might be able to solve all equations that people can now solve, but never push back that frontier to solve equations that people can NOT now solve. Similarly, a computer might be able to create music as good as a graduate from a major music school, but never create the likes of *Blurred Lines*. without something else first pointing in that direction, which is what the lawsuits are all about. Robin Thicke readily admits that he was actually listening to Marvin Gaye's music as he was composing *Blurred Lines*,but claims that *Blurred Lines* is NEW in ways that do NOT tread on copyrights. My conclusion is that computers can now already be creative, but there are limitations that apply equally to most people. We CAN now program great skill, but not yet program deviant genius. Any thoughts? Steve ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
