This AI can analyze an image and create an appropriate soundtrack

Shawn Knight

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We’ve seen... er, heard, Google’s artificial intelligence engine, Tensor Flow, help project Magenta compose original music in stunning fashion. Now, it’s time for Google’s Chinese counterpart, Baidu, to give it a shot.

As illustrated in the clip above, Baidu’s latest AI is able to study images and create compelling, original music that fits the image. In a recent interview with Tech in Asia, a Baidu representative said its AI creates music by deconstructing the various elements of an image then studies the individual elements (think colors, structures, people and so on).

Based on its analysis, the AI is able to determine the mood and sense of the image. It then leans on a massive database of musical scores that are categorized based on the type of emotion they personify.

For example, in the video above, the painting of running horses has a very strong, energetic and determined feel to it which is expressed perfectly in the audio track the AI created for it. Similarly, the AI did a great job with Vincent van Gogh’s classic, Starry Night, which (very) loosely reminds me of the “game over” screen from The Legend of Zelda.

As CNET highlights, Baidu is a massive force in China and one of three major Internet companies alongside Alibaba (the Amazon of China) and Tencent (a massive investment firm).

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I wish I could stand Van Gogh. I wish I wasn't intimidated by music created by a non human entity, which doesn't seem to suffer the same rate of learning limitations and physical difficulties developing the virtuoso dexterity necessary to create art, as do we humans.

On the other hand, most of that crap was elevator music, along with the fact, the the Tom toms playing as the ponies charged, was a blatant racial stereotype aimed at Native Americans! :p

Although, IIRC, the Mongol hoards were on horseback at times. Which leads to the question, why tom toms and no gong gongs"?

And why no ricky-ticky rhythms with 5 tone non-western scale intervals? Is this poop only for export to the US & Europe?
 
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I'd love to hear what it would make out of a picture of my sex toy collection!
 
I'd love to hear what it would make out of a picture of my sex toy collection!
Probably something with a slide trombone......;)

Khachaturian maybe? It has a trombone part:


Then of course, there's always the obvious, Ravel's "Bolero"

 
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You know, from the technical aspect it is interesting, but I am afraid no matter how great the AI it will end up being like the AI driven news articles I see. Something is just lacking that keeps it from being a truly impressive piece. And, despite this being a bit snobby, there are something I don't want a machine to be able to do. Truly great music has a certain soul that is a part of the person that composes it. Be it the William Tell Overture or one of many Bach's Concertos, or any of the music YOU like the most, it is inspiring, gives you that rush of endorphins that make you feel like you can run out side and hurl your car across the street. That is the music that captures you and holds your attention like no other. Imagine, back in 1969 when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. We were gathered around an old B&W TV watching and listening. No robot could have ever created the mood, the feelings and the memories of that moment like Armstrong did when he uttered those memorable words "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

No, I don't care how good the AI is, I just feel there are certain things that need to be "hands off, for humans only" in this techno-revolution. Not only for the sake of the creative form, but for the sake of mankind as well.
 
I wish I could stand Van Gogh. I wish I wasn't intimidated by music created by a non human entity, which doesn't seem to suffer the same rate of learning limitations and physical difficulties developing the virtuoso dexterity necessary to create art, as do we humans.

On the other hand, most of that crap was elevator music, along with the fact, the the Tom toms playing as the ponies charged, was a blatant racial stereotype aimed at Native Americans! :p

Although, IIRC, the Mongol hoards were on horseback at times. Which leads to the question, why tom toms and no gong gongs"?

And why no ricky-ticky rhythms with 5 tone non-western scale intervals? Is this poop only for export to the US & Europe?
I wish I could stand Van Gogh. I wish I wasn't intimidated by music created by a non human entity, which doesn't seem to suffer the same rate of learning limitations and physical difficulties developing the virtuoso dexterity necessary to create art, as do we humans.

On the other hand, most of that crap was elevator music, along with the fact, the the Tom toms playing as the ponies charged, was a blatant racial stereotype aimed at Native Americans! :p

Although, IIRC, the Mongol hoards were on horseback at times. Which leads to the question, why tom toms and no gong gongs"?

And why no ricky-ticky rhythms with 5 tone non-western scale intervals? Is this poop only for export to the US & Europe?
well, in mars attacks movie, the martians were killed by human song.
in star trek beyond movie, mutants were disoriented by 'classic song'.

and I love the 'music' playing when the mongol hordes are not on horsebacks in marco polo tv series .:)
 
well, in mars attacks movie, the martians were killed by human song. .:)
IMHO, this AI's music would have just bored the Martians to the point where they left on their own. Wow, there's a paradox, the AI's approach would have been, "more humane". :D

Then there's this; Star Trek "Voyager's" "The Doctor" eventually gets upstaged by a more sophisticated music creation program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuoso_(Star_Trek:_Voyager.

 
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I would like to hear what music it would come up with after looking at some of the stuff by Pablo Picasso, or some of that stuff called abstract art.

For crying out loud, someone can take a piece of white paper, put a dot on it and its art. They may not even have to put a dot on it if the artist is well known enough. Would kind of be interesting to hear what song it comes up with from a white piece of paper that is art because some artist calls it art.

This is like, real art man!
 
I would like to hear what music it would come up with after looking at some of the stuff by Pablo Picasso, or some of that stuff called abstract art....[ ]....
Picasso is just getting your toes wet in the stream of abstract art. Now Salvador Dali, that's jumping in the deep end of the pool:

8-surreal-paintings-by-salvador-dali.jpg


The-great-masturbator-1929.jpg
 
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