'Earworm melodies with strange aspects' – what happens when AI makes music

The first full-length mainstream music album co-written with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) was released on 12 January and experts believe that the science behind it could lead to a whole new style of music composition. Popular music has always been fertile ground for technological innovation. From the electric guitar to the studio desk, laptops and the wah-wah pedal, music has the ability to absorb new inventions with ease. Now, the release of Hello World, the first entire studio album co-created by artists and AI could mark a watershed in music composition. Stemming from the FlowMachines project, funded by the EU's European Research Council, the album is the fruits of the labour of 15 artists, music producer Benoit Carré, aka Skygge, and creative software designed by computer scientist and AI expert François Pachet.