Embracing the “Voice as Thought” Behind Music
By Sun Yue, Associate Professor, Music Department, Shanghai Conservatory of Music
If we embrace the notion that we have entered the post-human era, what implications does this hold for music and musical philosophy?
Currently, music generated by algorithms can encompass a wide range of styles and genres, including symphonies, yet it remains at the stage of imitating human creation—merely being "human-like." This has reached a level in pop music where it can convincingly mimic human work, thereby liberating human effort. Additionally, there is "ambient music" designed to efficiently create the ideal atmosphere in specific spaces for various scenarios. However, when it comes to the more technically intricate and complex art music, it is far from matching human creativity. To date, in the realm of art music composition, I have not encountered AI-generated works that can convincingly "pass off as genuine" or be "indistinguishable from authentic creations," which may require a deeper understanding of the empirical and transcendental aspects of human "auditory sensibility."
Before the advent of AI in music composition, modulation of sound already existed. Electronic music, spectral music, and so forth, can broadly be considered part of the post-human musical landscape and require electronic devices for their execution. Why then, when discussing the post-human, do we focus so much on artificial intelligence? Perhaps in the aforementioned music, humans still play a dominant role, with electronic devices serving only as "aids." Artificial intelligence, however, is distinct. Although it may seem "immature" in music, its significance lies in the fact that the entire creative process can almost be automated, with minimal human involvement. This represents a shift where the machine takes a leading role, somewhat usurping the position traditionally held by humans.
The post-human era has indeed arrived. Human "rational" activities, formal logic, and extensive computations can increasingly be managed by AI, even surpassing human capabilities. Yet, the "emotional" aspects of human engagement with music, our empathetic connection to it, and the resulting interpersonal empathy, remain uniquely human, offering an irreplaceable form of enjoyment and interpretive pleasure. Even if "digital re-creation" can depict the speech, actions, and performances of the deceased and allow for interaction with them, it is merely an imitation unless those outside the screen also enter into this digital realm, imagining coexistence with these "virtually reborn characters." Such imagination is a subject of interest to both the philosophy of art and aesthetics.
Therefore, to better prepare for and accept the post-human era, while AI has not yet run amok, we should focus more on the "voice as thought" that music embodies. Philosophy offers a variety of thought processes, modes of existence, and life attitudes, guiding us in questioning and seeking potential pathways for "rich emotional and sonic expression" and "unity of emotion and sound" in post-human music. Conversely, we should also delve deeper into our "own sensory experiences," using art and music to discover and explore our innate sensory structures. This is precisely the immense potential and optimistic future that the "post" in "post-human" offers us.
Published on May 23, 2024