"The World's First Songs Composed By Artificial Intelligence" Are Neither First Nor Entirely Artificial SPIN

Isn't pop music written by robots already? But really: Researchers at Sony's Computer Science Laboratory in Paris have shared a pair of tracks created with the assistance of software called Flow Machines. The program analyzes a database of existing songs to "learn" musical styles and identify commonalities, then "[exploits] unique combinations of style transfer, optimization, and interaction techniques" to synthesize original music. Researchers can tailor the process to produce tunes that sound like the work of a particular artist--for example, "Daddy's Car," which is intended to emulate the style of the Beatles: Shadow," is fashioned in the style of Great American Songbook composers like Irving Berlin and Duke Ellington: Neither of these songs were entirely composed by artificial intelligence, nor did a computer write the words. As a post from the Flow Machines blog explains, French musician Benoît Carré "arranged and produced the songs, and wrote the lyrics."