Music Composition as a Lens for Understanding Human-AI Collaboration

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems gain human-like capabilities in creative tasks, they seem to blur the line between machines and users, prompting questions about how to design systems where AI and humans collaborate. Music composition with AI may offer a lens to explore the nuances of human-AI collaboration. We review recent literature on music generation with AI, highlighting key challenges like the need for user control and context awareness, and noting a potential shift in the user’s role towards curation or co-production when using AI tools. However, much of the existing research evaluates the impact of current AI tools rather than engaging in fieldwork to investigate music composition “in practice” within specific socio-cultural contexts. We then propose an ethnographic study to understand music composition as a situated practice, considering composers’ personal motivations, artistic sensibilities, and the broader socio-cultural context. Preliminary findings highlight the importance of creative intentionality and meaning-making in driving compositional choices. Furthermore, music creation often involves collaboration between various human actors, raising questions about whether AI should facilitate this already present collaboration or disrupt existing dynamics.