It’s a mixture of curiosity, enthusiasm, and perhaps anxiety that can often arise when the talk turns to AI technologies’ deployment in our everyday private and professional lives. At home, it might be a robovac that’s supposed to save us work but—How could it be otherwise?—ends up repeatedly needing help. In academic and artistic contexts, on the other hand, it’s about things like questions of authorship, innovation, and inspiration.

A discussion with Dagmar Abfalter, Karl-Gerhard Straßl, Walter Werzowa and Christoph Stuhlpfarrer of the approach to artificial intelligence tools at the mdw.

In mid-April of 2023, fans of Canadian superstar rapper Drake broke out in jubilation over a new release by their idol as the song “Heart on My Sleeve” appeared on Spotify and then on YouTube, after which it went viral on TikTok. It soon became clear, however, that what seemed to be a duet between Drake and his Canadian compatriot The Weeknd was actually an AI-generated deepfake.

Music scholars who engage in performance analysis are interested in examining performance characteristics such as style and expressiveness. They will typically collect multiple recorded performances of the same piece and compare their nuances.

In celebration of Human Rights Day, 11 December 2023 witnessed an event that revolved around the arts, artificial intelligence, and democracy. Its keynote, “The machine’s obviously not in the mood* – Wie künstlich (intelligent) ist Kunst und was bedeutet das für die Demokratie?” [… – How artificial(ly intelligent) is art and what does this mean for democracy?], was delivered by Eugenia Stamboliev.