Algorythm: What is the future of music in the age of AI?

The SAT invites you on October 29 to dive into the questions surrounding the impact of AI on musical creation with three activities:

Morning – Workshop – AI Tools in Music: AIpocalypse or AIpotheosis ?

Participate in an overview of creative AI tools currently accessible, whether they are for research or industry needs. Through examples and demonstrations from the Metacreation Lab, accessible to both amateurs and professionals, trainer Philippe Pasquier offers a unique perspective during these troubled times of exponential acceleration in machine learning technologies. From AI-assisted composition to the generation of ready-to-listen audio pieces, from automatic sound design to artificial agents sharing the stage with human musicians, this exploration of a rich and rapidly expanding field aims to be both educational and reflective.

Philippe Pasquier is a researcher in artificial intelligence, a multidisciplinary media artist, and an educator. He is the director of the Metacreation Lab for creative AI and a professor at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. There, he pursues a multidisciplinary research-creation program focused on generative systems and AI applied to creative tasks.

No prerequisites are required, it’s open to all!

When? 10 AM – 12 PM
Where? Formation room on the 2nd floor at the SAT, streamed at the Quai des Savoirs.

Afternoon – A Duplex Meeting between the Quai des Savoirs in Toulouse and the SAT in Montreal

Like all major technological revolutions that have preceded it, the use of AI in music carries immense creative potential but also brings a host of social, cultural, and even existential upheavals. These new techniques allow anyone to create a song or even an entire symphony using just a few ‘prompts.’ However, the aesthetic value of these automated productions is open to question. Additionally, the way AI systems are trained is often ethically problematic: private companies show little regard for copyright and use the work of hundreds of thousands of artists without their consent, with no compensation provided to the creators.

In response to these issues, the City of Toulouse, recently named a UNESCO Creative City for Music, along with the Quai des Savoirs and with the financial support from the Institut Français, proposed a collaborative event with the SAT. This exchange aims to provide a series of insights into the challenges posed by the AI revolution in music.

This event will take place at 3 PM (Montreal time) and 8 PM (Toulouse time), connecting Quai des Savoirs in Toulouse and the SAT in Montreal via a live panel broadcast worldwide by the French Institute. It will allow participants to explore the future of music in the age of algorithms. Using an innovative setup, the event will connect audiences in Toulouse and Montreal in real time, encouraging them to address their reflections on AI to various experts from both sides of the Atlantic. The exchange will be enriched by contributions from DJs, artists, journalists, legal experts, and scientists.

Speakers:

• Chloe Sondervorst (Montreal): Director at Radio Canada
• Maxime Delcourt (Toulouse): Journalist at Fisheye Immersive
• Dennis Kastrup (Montreal): Music journalist
• Richard Seff (Toulouse): Author, composer, and Vice-President of the Board of SACEM
• Marc Chemillier (Toulouse): Researcher at IRCAM
• Tegan Maharaj (Montreal): Researcher at MILA
• Gabriel Vigliensoni (Montreal): Artist-researcher at Concordia University
• Pia Baltazar (Montreal): Director of Arts-Science Development at SAT
• Bernard Lubat and Clara Gaudré, Nour Kara (Toulouse): Musicians
• DJ Martyn Bootyspoon

When? 3PM-5PM
Where? SAT space

Complete!

5 à 7: Cocktail and Research-Creation Performances in AI and Music
Continue de discussions on AI with a cocktail hour at the SAT space!

After the end of our event with the Quai des Savoirs, continue the experience with unique performances and discussions on AI during a 5 à 7 at the Espace SAT!

The evening will kick off with a DJ mix by Martyn Bootyspoon, featuring AI-generated tracks inspired by his compositions and the intersection of generative art, code, and music. Following that, performances resulting from arts-science collaborations will be presented, aiming to poetically explore artificial intelligence algorithms. Composer and performer Erin Gee and artist-researcher Philippe Pasquier will present AISMR, an original performance exploring the intersections between the latent spaces of machine learning and our emotions. Artist-researchers Portrait XO and Gadi Sassoon will also unveil the results of their research-creation residency at SAT with AI researcher Tegan Maharaj, focusing on the “sensification” of training an algorithm for simulating environmental risks.

When? 5PM-7PM

Where? SAT space