September 5 – 8, 2019 Linz, St. Florian
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TIMETABLE DAILY THU 5.9. FRI 6.9. ENGLISH SAT 7.9. SUN September 5 – 8, 2019 8.9. ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL APP Linz, St. Florian Download via: ars.electronica.art/ outofthebox/app Gerfried Stocker (AT) AIxMusic Encounters in the • to comprehend and strengthen the synergies and potentials of STARTS (Science Tech- uncharted territories nology and Arts) collaborations as a source for between human discovery and innovation. creativity and • to initiate new ideas and new alliances towards a specifically “European way” for a culture and mechanical perfection. humanity driven development of AI technolo- gies and applications. The AIxMusic (Artifical Intelleigence – AI meets Creativity, the ability to give birth to new and unex- music) Festival is organized by Ars Electronica pected forms of expression, to go beyond repetition as part of the STARTS initiative of the European and modification of what already exists, is often seen Commission (DG-CONNECT) together with many as an ultimate frontier only possible for the human partners from industry, academic research as well as mind. art and education organizations. It is a hybrid a music festival and an AI conference, of a philosophical • Will machines be able to create compelling symposium and a Start-Up presentation. It engages works of art or ingenious scientific theories? with art and music to demonstrate and discuss the latest achievements of AI research with respect to • What are the differences between repetition, their potential impact on our lives. interpretation, industrial creation and original creation? The main goals of this new festival • Will we be able and willing to appreciate it in the same way and depth that we appreciate art program are: created by humans? • bringing together artists, creators, computer • How will AI and humans work together? How scientists, philosophers, industry people, policy can AI serve humans best, empower not makers. replace? • exploring the complex and fascinating rela- Discussing these questions is a powerful approach tionships of man and machine, culture and not only to the cultural and societal implications of technology. AI but to a wider understanding and evaluation of the enticing potentials and possible threats of AI. • celebrating human spirit, creativity and inge- The high flying goals and expectations of AI are not nuity which finds its expression in arts as well only scientific and technological challenges but also as in science and technology. cultural ones. Like no other technology before, AI • to better understand the upcoming disruptions is already causing a lot of controversy and calls for and forces that will result from new develop- regulation in its very early stages. ments and the increasing presence of autono- This comes in a moment where we also see a mous digital systems. growing skepticism towards new technology and the immense power of a few industry giants. • to develop the necessary skills and strategies And it concerns not just some far ahead future of to stay ahead and in control of the ongoing AI, it concerns us right now for the introduction of changes in particular related to new applica- next generation social media, digital assistants and tions of machine learning in many areas of our self-driving cars, smart cities, IoT, digital health care, daily lives. etc. etc. Success in the global competition of AI-based • New instruments inspired and challenged services and products will not only depend on tech- composers to create in new ways, to rethink nical features and specifications; to a large extend music in contemporary and visionary ways, it will also be an issue of trust, confidence, and leading innovation beyond their artistic realm. successful social and cultural implementation. Think of the pianoforte in J.S. Bach’s time, or Beethoven who composed for the just-invented • How and where can we gain the insight and Panharmonikon1. Then come the Theremin, the expertise necessary to master these cultural Trautonium, the Illiac Suite (the first computer challenges? composed music from 1957)2, Bob Moog’s analog synthesizers or the computer gener- • How can we start and conduct the necessary ated sounds and sampling of our days music dialog with society? industry. • How can we ignite inspiration? • Mathematical and algorithmic principles have always played a big role in music creation - Moving into an era where we no longer just use fromm voice-leading in Western counterpoint, technology as tools but essentially start to live to Schönberg’s 12-Tone music and computer together with it, we need to address these issues. music. Seducing people with marketing and advertisement won’t do the job, we have to go deeper and we have • The music industry - which went totally digital to start now. quite a while ago - is already one of the hot That’s the crucial point of this new model of collabo- areas for practical applications of today’s ML ration between artists, engineers, industry and technologies (just think about the importance of society. recommendation systems). • But music has also always kept its strong roots in history and tradition and has provided a sanc- Why music? tuary and refuge for the emotional and spiritual needs of people. • music throughout the centuries has always been a forerunner and early adopter of new technologies, has always been a close associate of mathematics and natural sciences. From Pythagoras’ Chords, the first wind-driven organ which is attributed to Hero of Alexandria, the music machines from the Islamic Golden Age, to Johannes Kepler‘s ”Harmonices Mundi” (published exactly 400 years ago and developed during Kepler’s time in Linz) and further on to 1 In 1805 Johann Nepomuk Mälzel (1772-1838) completed 20th-century artists like composer and architect the Panharmonikon, a highly complex music machine. For this machine Ludwig van Beethoven composed the second part of Iannis Xenakis. Wellington's Victory or the Battle of Vitoria (op. 91) in 1813. 2 Illiac was the name of the computer which was used in 1957 by • Inventing and building musical instruments Hiller and Isaacson to compose their “Streichquartett Nr. 4”. has always required the application of new In 1960, Russian researcher R. Kh. Zaripov published his seminal paper on algorithmic music composing using the "Ural-1" materials as well as the latest improvements in computer. craftsmanship and manufacturing. It was often In 1965, inventor Ray Kurzweil premiered a piano piece created also a field of fierce battles for patents and by a computer that was capable of pattern recognition in various compositions. The computer was then able to analyze and use commercial licenses. these patterns to create novel melodies. AIxMusic Festival Although the applications of artificial intelligence are still in their infancy, it is clear that we are heading A festival for music towards a turning point. Machine learning, in particu- lar, is already making it clear today what disruptive and AI changes we are facing—also and above all away from It is this very encounter between human creativity the realms of industry and research. and technical perfection to which the first AIxMusic Festival, organized by Ars Electronica and the Euro- So it’s high time we turned our attention to fun- pean Commission as part of the STARTS initiative, damental issues. For example, what role will—or is dedicated. From September 6 to 8, 2019, Ars should—AI-based systems play in the future? What Electronica will be bringing together musicians, com- will we use intelligent machines for and how do we posers, cultural historians, technologists, scientists, want to be supported by them? What can we expect and AI developers from all over the world in Linz to regarding the social acceptance of and responsibility discuss the interaction between people and machines for these autonomous technical systems? And last through concerts and performances, conferences, but not least, what does all this mean for our lives workshops, and exhibitions. and self-image as human beings? Renowned personalities from the world of art, such as Hermann Nitsch, Christian Fennesz, Oliviero Toscani), Markus Poschner, Dennis Russell Davies, Maki Name- Music meets kawa, Memo Akten, and Sophie Wennerscheid, and from the world of science, such as Josef Penninger, technology meets Siegfried Zielinski, and Ludger Brümmer will be music present. Other participants include personalities such as Matthias Röder from the Karajan Institute, the Culture shapes technology, and technology shapes author, theologian, editor, filmmaker, and presenter culture. This is an interaction that is also evident in Renata Schmidtkunz, and Amanda Cox from the New music, an art form that expresses our feelings in an al- York Times’s data journalism section “The Upshot.” most magical way and at the same time is inextricably In addition, there will be internationally leading de- linked to mathematical rules and physical principles. velopers from the Yamaha R&D Division AI Group and Its history and development is therefore also one the Glenn Gould Foundation, from Google’s Magenta of the innovative technologies that have repeatedly Studio, SonyLab, IRCAM, or the Nokia Bell Labs, as created new means of expression for musicians. well as from various start-ups. 4 Table of Contents Festival–Timetable .............................................................. p. 6 Festival–Program .............................................................. p. 12 Events, Concerts, Performances ............................................... p. 12