Objectives
Professor Benjamin Harbert is developing a seminar, targeted to run in Spring 2025, “Music in the Age of AI.” This course aims to challenge students to think of AI as an evolving entity within the realm of music, engaging students not just in using AI as a tool, but in understanding its potential impact on artistic practices. By focusing on AI-generated music, the course encourages students to rethink traditional ideas around authorship, creativity, and human identity in the arts.
Through a curriculum rooted in musicology, technology ethics, and aesthetic analysis, students will explore the implications of AI in music creation. They will engage with AI-generated compositions to evaluate the extent to which AI can be considered a collaborator in the creative process. This academic journey will prompt students to consider how AI-generated music reshapes cultural perceptions of artistry, industry standards, and intellectual property, while providing new insights into human-technology interactions.
Outcomes
The course design delivers both practical and theoretical outcomes that will expand students’ understanding of AI’s role in music and creativity. Engaging with AI-driven tools like Suno AI, Audio, AVIA, Logic Pro, and SoundGen, students will create their own music, gaining hands-on experience in generative AI technologies and the challenges involved in human-machine co-creation.
Through the lens of posthumanist perspectives, students will critically evaluate the ethical, legal, and aesthetic dilemmas posed by AI in music, grappling with questions of authorship and originality. They will explore how music produced by AI can offer new emotional dimensions and shift boundaries of what is traditionally understood as “authentic” music. This exploration aims to build students’ capacity for critical analysis and their understanding of AI’s broader societal impact on creative industries.
The course will also feature collaborations with guest speakers, including legal experts and musicians actively working with AI, providing students with diverse viewpoints on the current and future roles of AI in the music industry. Assessment will focus on the depth of their critical reflections, the originality in their AI-produced compositions, and their engagement with post-humanist ideas. Professor Harbert envisions this course as an evolving platform, one that will grow through interdisciplinary collaborations and adapt to the rapid advancements in AI, inspiring students to consider the interplay of technology and creativity.
Team
Benjamin J. Harbert
Department of Performing Arts
