Artificial Creativity

Machines

Andrew Branch (CC0)

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Original Air Date: 
January 15, 2017

Computer scientists are closing in on the next frontier in artificial intelligence — machines that can create. Make art. Write stories. Compose music. The dream is to open the door to a whole new kind of creativity. But don’t throw away your paintbrush yet—in this hour, we explore the dream and the limits of artificial creativity.

Machine Music Theory 101

Gabriel Barletta
Audio

Doug Eck directs Google’s new “Magenta” project, an experiment in teaching machines to make art, leveraging advances in machine learning like neural networks to enable computers to do things like compose music.

Length: 
9:21

Cracking the 'Bestseller Code'

Books
Audio

As an acquisitions editor for Penguin Books, Jodie Archer saw many novelists struggling to write books that would sell. Then she went to grad school at Stanford, where she and her advisor created an algorithm to help.

Length: 
8:18

My Robot Could Paint That

Computer code
Audio

When a computer program fixes a writer’s novel, or improvises a few bars of music, is that real creativity? Are they not just doing what they were programmed to do? Blaise Agüera y Arcas would wholeheartedly disagree.

Length: 
8:44

Creative Differences with Android Lloyd Webber

Screengrab from "Computer Says Show" used with permission.
Audio

Could a computer write the next West Side Story or Hamilton? That’s what composers Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor tried to figure out—the result is a musical called “Beyond the Fence."

Length: 
12:21

Nothing Left To Do But Write Songs

Amanda Shires
Deep Tracks

While pregnant with her first child, Amanda Shires was playing fiddle on the road for her husband, the country superstar, Jason Isbell. Near the end of her pregnancy, touring got to be too much. So she stayed home, alone, for weeks… with nothing to do but write songs.

Length: 
11:58
Show Details 📻
Airdates
January 15, 2017
November 11, 2017
July 07, 2018
April 13, 2019
November 07, 2020
Guests: 
Douglas Eck

Douglas Eck

Computer Scientist
twitter.com
Jodie Archer

Jodie Archer

Publishing Consultant
archerjockers.com
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Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Software Engineer
styleisviolence.com
twitter.com
TTBOOK

Benjamin Till

Composer & Film Maker
benjamintill.com
TTBOOK

Nathan Taylor

Actor and Composer
nathantaylor.co.uk
Amanda Shires

Amanda Shires

Musician
amandashiresmusic.com
twitter.com
Categories: 
Art
Science
Technology
Last modified: 
November 06, 2020