Of Flesh and Steel: Computational Creativity in Music and the Body Issue

Mattia Merlini; Stefano Maria Nicoletti

doi:10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2020.3.4.24

Authors

Mattia Merlini University of Milan, Milan, Italy Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9563-8917
Stefano Maria Nicoletti University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5522-4798

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2020.3.4.24

Keywords:

artificial intelligence (AI) , computational creativity, mirror neurons, embodied cognition, embodied simulation, body, creativity, performance

Abstract

Could machines ever take our place in the creation of art, and particularly music? The outstanding results of some well-known AIs (e.g. EMI, Flow Machines) might make us believe that this is the case. However, despite this evidence it seems that machines present some intrinsic limits both in creative and non-creative contexts (already highlighted by John Searle and the debate around mechanism). The arguments of this paper are centred around this very belief: we are convinced that the utopian claims regarding all-round machine intelligence are not plausible and that our attention should be directed towards more relevant issues in the field of computational creativity. In particular, we focus our attention on what we call the “body issue”, i.e. the role of the body in the experience and creation of music, that we consider problematic for the idea of a truly creative machine (even if we take into consideration weaker renditions of artificial intelligence). Our argument is based on contemporary findings in neuroscience (especially on embodied cognition) and on the theories of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Roland Barthes.

Author Biographies

Mattia Merlini, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Mattia Merlini. I hold an M.A. in Musicology and a B.A. in Philosophy at the University of Milan, where I recently graduated with a thesis in Popular Music Studies under the supervision of Maurizio Corbella and Emilio Sala. My master’s thesis will be published in 2020 by a major Italian publisher with the name Le ceneri del prog. In 2020 I have started sending articles to several academic journals and presenting papers at conferences in the UK, in Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Canada and Austria, while I wait for my PhD project to be accepted somewhere in Europe. I have recently started collaborating with the project SpotiGeM at the University of Milan. In my free time I work as a speaker for the cultural events organised by Sophron.it. As a musician, I focus on my solo project and on music for films.
Stefano Maria Nicoletti, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands

Stefano Maria Nicoletti. I hold an M.A. in Philosophy of Information at the University of Urbino, where I graduated with a thesis in Logic and Computer Science under the supervision of prof. Pierluigi Graziani and prof. Alessandro Aldini. I got my B.A. in Philosophy at the University of Milan (2017) with a thesis in Privacy Ethics under the supervision of prof. Marcello D’Agostino. I am also a fellow of CEST | the Center for Excellence and Transdisciplinary Studies, an association promoting academic research made by young scholars. As a member of CEST, I am currently part of several organizing committees for national and international workshops and for junior research seminars. In June 2020 I will begin my experience as PhD Researcher at the University of Twente. I write for the cultural website Sophron.it and work as a speaker for its outreach activities on philosophy and art.