Creativity and art are not only human capacities, and it is that the emerging collaborations between humans and computers are the next technological step in art. How can machines foster creativity? What are the ethical limits that we should consider?, these are some of the questions that ARTIFICIA, a new platform that relates Artificial Intelligence (AI), computational creativity, and the arts, seeks to answer.

Music will be the first artistic modality that will exemplify these relationships through a cycle of performances and debates that will take place in three online sessions between March and May 2021. The sessions are in English, online and free. They will focus on musical creativity and the use of AI in music improvisation, composition, and performance, with project presentations and live performances and discussions with international and local experts.

The first online session, "Musical improvisation with AI," will take place on the Youtube Channel on March 10 at 6:00 p.m. CET. This session will address topics such as the complexity of the creative process, creative aspects around improvisation, its interactions, and how AI can emulate jazz music's spontaneity. 

Debate, performances, and project demonstrations will be part of this first session. The session moderated by the CSIC's Research Professor at the IIIA-CSIC, Ramón López de Mántaras, will feature artists and international experts in Artificial Intelligence such as Mark d'Inverno and Matthew Yee-King from Goldsmith, University of London, Augusto Sarti and Clara Borrelli from the Polytechnic of Milano and Sara Sithi-Amnuai graduated from the California Institute of the Arts.

The following sessions, scheduled for April 8 and May 6 will address AI technology's role in music composition, performance, and education.

The sessions are aimed at all audiences and, especially, at artists, engineers, scientists, musicians, professionals from the world of culture, designers, entrepreneurs and the general public interested in the interaction between technology and the arts in the creative process and the ethical, legal and philosophical issues that derive from the use of Artificial Intelligence for artistic creation.

What is ARTIFICIA?

ARTIFICIA is an open and collaborative space to carry out activities that articulate the debate around the impact of technology and Artificial Intelligence on culture and society from a critical perspective. It aims to become a tool for disseminating augmented creativity and democratizing AI and its application in artistic creations and becoming a reference agent in this emerging sector within the creative industries.

The project results from the collaboration between public and private institutions to bring knowledge about technology and AI applied to the arts to a broad spectrum. The organizing entities are The Visual Suspects, the promoter and co-organizer of the project with the IIIA-CSIC, Kreomúsica, and UPF Ventures. The project also collaborates with ESMUC, UPF's Music Technology Group (MTG), and the Festival Cruïlla.