Supporting Creative Ownership through Deep Learning-Based Music Variation

Stephen James Krol, Maria Teresa Llano, Jon McCormack

Track: Paper

Keywords: Creativity Support, Music, Creative AI

TL;DR: This study demonstrates that musical AI tools relying on musicians’ skill can foster creative ownership and preserve artistic identity.

Abstract: This paper investigates the importance of personal ownership in musical AI design, examining how practising musicians can maintain creative control over the compositional process. Through a four-week ecological evaluation, we examined how a music variation tool, reliant on the skill of musicians, functioned within a composition setting. Our findings demonstrate that the dependence of the tool on the musician's ability, to provide a strong initial musical input and to turn moments into complete musical ideas, promoted ownership of both the process and artefact. Qualitative interviews further revealed the importance of this personal ownership, highlighting tensions between technological capability and artistic identity. These findings provide insight into how musical AI can support rather than replace human creativity, highlighting the importance of designing tools that preserve the humanness of musical expression.

Submission Number: 178