A Japanese depiction of the Amida Triad in Seed Syllable form. Visualizing deities in the form of seed syllables is a common Vajrayana meditation. In Shingon, one of the most common practices is Ajikan
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"This meeting is magical and eludes comprehension. Magical understanding is what one calls noncomprehension. Everything that works magically is incomprehensible, and the incomprehensible often works magically. One calls incomprehensible workings magical. The magical always surrounds me, always involves me." - Iona Miller
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"As fiction and music are coming close to reorganizing knowledge, scholarship is becoming closer to art." - William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, 1981
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A recent deepmind paper uses ML to come up with the most effective prompts for LLM's. "Take a deep breath and work step-by-step!" was one of the top ones.
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Soft Wireheading Music
The perception of music — its appeal to an individual in specific contexts and the emotions it evokes — has traditionally been highly subjective. Though recommender systems have provided some insights in recent years, understanding this domain largely remained elusive. However, with the rise of contemporary machine learning and BCI, modeling audience's perception and responses to media is rapidly increasing in precision. By integrating these affective models with generative music models in a dynamic feedback loop, we get a glimpse of a groundbreaking new form of media, that enable users to deliberately and precisely alter their mental states. Such "soft wireheading" techniques have expansive applications, ranging from entertainment and healthcare to education and defense.
But more importantly:
In an age where our senses are perpetually bombarded by external stimuli, it's worth remembering this insight from meditation: It's entirely possible to cultivate an inner state of profound tranquility and bliss at any moment, independent of any 'external' catalyst.
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"Working in generative music, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can simulate the music bit for bit. But when you go out to a music event it becomes very clear that there is something deeper at play here: People seek cultural experiences and connection to other people" - Paraphrasing @SignalsNSorcery
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The narrative surrounding AI music technology is currently often rather primitive: "Hey, I've created an AI that generates music automatically. Isn't that awesome? The end."
However, any seasoned music producer may question: "Where are the creative controls? How does this fit into my workflow? Is this just a toy or will AI replace me?"
We have the opportunity and responsibility to elevate the conversation and focus on how AI can augment music production, inspire new creative processes, and empower artists, fans and businesses.
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"It is easier to invent the future than to predict it" - Alan Kay
