AI Futures: how artificial intelligence will change music

For most people, artificial intelligence brings to mind a futuristic, sci-fi scenario of autonomous robots or machines capable of making their own decisions, and more often than not, resulting in the demise of their human counterparts. For now, the applications of AI are less apocalyptic, like helping drones spot dog poo on footpaths, turning Robert DeNiro German and proving who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. WIRED's excellent AI Database is a good place to look for hundreds of examples: some novelty, some sinister, all fascinating. In this three-part series, which will run over the next three days, we're going to explore the potential impact AI is having and will have for modelling an artist's likeness, how producers and engineers work in the studio, what it means for DJing, and how the hyper-personalisation of our online experience could soon migrate to the way we experience music. Though many of the concepts touched on in this series are already in motion, their cultural impact is largely yet to be felt, leaving us staring down the barrel of a contradiction.