AI貝多芬，是貝多芬？ Can the AI create Beethoven alive?

【縛雞之見】英文請拷到 Google / DeepL 找中文翻譯
The Deutsche Telekom organized a team of international music and AI experts in Spring 2019, intending to complete Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony, called “Beethoven Symphony 10.1” under the help of AI.
Creativity, the core item that human beings are so proud of claiming that no artificial tools could ever surpass, is facing a genuine challenge.   What does the meaning of human beings exist?
Another genuine problem comes into the case: Is it a work of Beethoven?  If the answer is yes, can we create more under the name of Beethoven?  If the answer is no, the next question will be: Beethoven is shifting from a physical person to a style, or a brand, in terms of business.
In all, who is Beethoven is not going to be an issue.  What kind of Beethoven becomes a more practical question.  And what new things that AI can create if it has not fed with historical data.

AI完成貝多芬未竟之作 《第十交响曲》全球首演    DW 20211009

貝多芬逝世後留下了未竟之作第十交響曲。如今音樂學家及電腦科學家利用人工智慧，以演算法完成了這部作品。人工智慧的創造力能否超越音樂天才貝多芬？

（德國之聲中文網）演算法正主導我們的日常生活。無論是駕駛汽車、工作或各種活動都少不了人工智慧。很長的一段時間裡，創造力似乎是人類大腦的最後一道防線，但有越來越多的跡象顯示，這道防線已經越來越薄弱，甚至已經被突破？

在電腦成功替古斯塔夫·馬勒和弗朗茨·舒伯特完成未竟之作後，現在輪到了貝多芬的最後一部作品第十交響曲。1827年貝多芬逝世時，留下了這部未完成作品。第十交響曲只有幾張手稿留存，部分是簡短未竟片段。

為紀念貝多芬誕辰250年（因新冠疫情推遲舉行），在人工智慧的説明下，這部作品在2021年10月9日的貝多芬音樂節上首次演出。總部設立於貝多芬誕生地波恩的德國電信公司組織了一個專家團隊。這群音樂學家、作曲家和電腦科學家嘗試分析和學習貝多芬的風格，以完成貝多芬的未竟之作。

貝多芬的草稿、筆記及其生活時代的樂譜被輸入到人工智慧系統中。薩爾斯堡卡拉揚研究所所長羅德（Matthias Röder）表示：“你必須想像，貝多芬在迸發新靈感時會寫下筆記。有時候是書面文字，有時候是音符。” 根據這些材料，羅德和他的團隊對“貝多芬會如何發展某些東西”進行了假設。

這裡假設的是，音樂如同語言一樣是基於一個個小單位；所以學習音樂的過程就像學習知識。人工智慧反覆學習貝多芬的交響曲、鋼琴奏鳴曲和和絃四重奏並進行訓練。如同大腦中的神經網路，電腦能夠自行創建新的連接。人工智慧將最合適的結果回饋到系統中，由此加入新的音符。

如此一來，這部作品不斷延伸。“人工智慧能為一個段落提供20個甚至100個版本的可能性。”哈佛大學音樂學教授萊文（Robert Levin）表示：“這是無盡的魅力，因為如果演算法做得好，每一次嘗試都是合理的。”

貝多芬與人工智慧將擦出何種火花？

對研究人員而言，這樣的合作非常令人興奮，因為它演示了機器能如何輔助、甚至模仿人類進行音樂創作。紐約羅格斯大學藝術與人工智慧實驗室主任、“貝多芬人工智慧”開發者埃爾加瑪律（Ahmed Elgammal）表示：“我們想要更好地瞭解音樂創作過程中的技術狀況，並且試圖探索極限。最後，我們使用了所謂的自然語言處理的一些模組。”

但這樣的研究專案對音樂家們有何好處？

音樂學教授萊文說：“你可以說，電腦是用演算法做到的。沒錯，但是人類依據的也是經驗和訓練。兩者的差距其實不是太大。” 觀眾現在可以親自來聽聽看“原版貝多芬”和“人工智慧作曲”之間是否存在差異。由德克·卡夫騰（Dirk Kaftan）擔任指揮的波恩貝多芬管弦樂團10月9日首次演奏貝多芬與人工智慧“共同譜寫”的第十交響曲。

 

Beethoven's 10th Symphony completed by AI. This is how it sounds    Deutsche Telekom 20211009

The moment will finally arrive in October.  One year after Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, his 10th Symphony, which has been completed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), will be making its highly anticipated premiere in the Telekom Forum in Bonn.  A short sound clip that can be heard here gives listeners a first impression of the final composition.  It was performed by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under the direction of conductor Dirk Kaftan with Cameron Carpenter at the organ.

After the first and still unready impressions from December 2019 and an excerpt from the status of the third movement in June of last year, this is the first insight into the final work.

People and machines working hand in hand

To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Deutsche Telekom organized a team of international music and AI experts in spring 2019 with the aim of completing Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony with the help of AI.  A hotly debated (even in specialist circles) experiment that was intended to answer the question of whether algorithms can be creative and replace people in the arts.

The resulting composition will also surely be discussed by the public.  Tim Höttges, Chairman of the Board of Management at Deutsche Telekom is convinced of this: “I believe that the result is something truly amazing because people and machines have created something new.  But it’s important to see the result for what it is.  Beethoven lived in his time.  Beethoven lived in a society that was characterized by wars, by need but also by lots of love and empathy.  No machine is able to do that today.  However, the machine understands music and can develop it further but it cannot integrate the zeitgeist – the topic at hand if you like – into the music.”

The story of the 10th Symphony

Shortly before his death, Beethoven began working on a 10th Symphony, a work which was to remain unfinished.  Under the leadership of Dr. Matthias Röder, Managing Director at the Karajan Institute, a group of AI experts and musicologists developed the “Beethoven AI”, which “understands” Beethoven’s style.  The experts providing scientific guidance and supervision included Prof. Dr. Christine Siegert, head of the Beethoven-Haus research department.

The AI was not only “fed” with Beethoven’s compositions and his notes on the 10th Symphony; it was also provided with works from composers and musicians that demonstrably inspired and influenced Beethoven during his life such as Johann Sebastian Bach.  Together with the experts, the algorithm continued Beethoven’s final, incomplete work. And composer Walter Werzowa, the musicians, and their conductor turned this notation into a living composition.

Experience the world premiere live

The world premiere of the symphony will take place on October 9 in the Telekom Forum in Bonn.

The premiere will be broadcast live and free of charge on MagentaMusik 360.

BMG releases the album „Beethoven X – The AI Project” worldwide on October 8. October as CD and Stream/Download (also in Dolby Atmos) on all digital platforms.

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