Redefining progress at the intersection of AI and artistic research

TY - CHAP

T1 - Redefining progress at the intersection of AI and artistic research

AU - Field, Ambrose Edmund

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Pragmatism, both as a philosophy and as a methodology, has strengthened a convergence of musical practice and research. This chapter proposes that this strengthening has exposed a gap between an idealised view of technology as an agent for progress and contemporary artistic reasons for using technology in creative processes. It argues that pragmatism has been helpful in moving discourse away from artefacts on the semiological neutral level (Nattiez 1990, 12) and toward experience: that is, toward the situations in which music is made and perceived (Small 1998). However, when the semiotics of technology are overlaid, it is argued that a distortion occurs that results in technology itself filling the gap that has been created at the neutral level. As a result, technical authority (the phrase that I use to describe how the platform now acts as an author) is clearly identifiable. Nattiez’s semiological tripartition is perhaps now a less relevant tool for decoding the impact of technology on creativity, because new structures (such as the platform economy—see Kenney and Zysman 2016, 65) connect perception with reception in ways that were not present in the twentieth century semiotics upon which the tripartition model is based. Indeed, the idea of “trace” (Nattiez 1990, 12) itself has dissolved today, rendering visible the systems, channels, and applications of technology within a space once claimed by the “musical work.” The chapter concludes by noting that, although a sense of dislocation has been created between technology and creativity in practice-based research, a convergence of technology and practice can be found within the domain of AI. However, I propose that experimental systems in concept and AI systems in practice both operate differently with regard to the role played by pragmatism. Further, I highlight the need for practice-based research (particularly in context, embodiment, and situation) as an essential component of technological development. And I argue that AI systems are not capable of assessing their pragmatic validity on their own.

AB - Pragmatism, both as a philosophy and as a methodology, has strengthened a convergence of musical practice and research. This chapter proposes that this strengthening has exposed a gap between an idealised view of technology as an agent for progress and contemporary artistic reasons for using technology in creative processes. It argues that pragmatism has been helpful in moving discourse away from artefacts on the semiological neutral level (Nattiez 1990, 12) and toward experience: that is, toward the situations in which music is made and perceived (Small 1998). However, when the semiotics of technology are overlaid, it is argued that a distortion occurs that results in technology itself filling the gap that has been created at the neutral level. As a result, technical authority (the phrase that I use to describe how the platform now acts as an author) is clearly identifiable. Nattiez’s semiological tripartition is perhaps now a less relevant tool for decoding the impact of technology on creativity, because new structures (such as the platform economy—see Kenney and Zysman 2016, 65) connect perception with reception in ways that were not present in the twentieth century semiotics upon which the tripartition model is based. Indeed, the idea of “trace” (Nattiez 1990, 12) itself has dissolved today, rendering visible the systems, channels, and applications of technology within a space once claimed by the “musical work.” The chapter concludes by noting that, although a sense of dislocation has been created between technology and creativity in practice-based research, a convergence of technology and practice can be found within the domain of AI. However, I propose that experimental systems in concept and AI systems in practice both operate differently with regard to the role played by pragmatism. Further, I highlight the need for practice-based research (particularly in context, embodiment, and situation) as an essential component of technological development. And I argue that AI systems are not capable of assessing their pragmatic validity on their own.

KW - AI

KW - Artistic Research

KW - Creativity

UR - https://orpheusinstituut.be/en/publications/experience-music-experiment

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9789462702790

BT - Experience Music Experiment

A2 - Brooks, William

PB - Leuven University Press

CY - Leuven

ER -