AI got rhythm
人工智能律动
A new generation of music-making algorithms is here
新一代音乐制作算法流行
Their most useful application may lie in helping human composers
它们最大的用处可能是帮助人类作曲家
IN THE DYSTOPIA of George Orwell’s novel “1984”, Big Brother numbs the masses with the help of a “versificator”, a machine designed to automatically generate the lyrics to popular tunes, thereby ridding society of human creativity. Today, numerous artificial-intelligence (AI) models churn out, some free of charge, the music itself. Unsurprisingly, many fear a world flooded with generic and emotionally barren tunes, with human musicians edged out in the process. Yet there are brighter signs, too, that AI may well drive a boom in musical creativity.
在乔治·奥威尔的小说《1984》所描写的反乌托邦世界中，“老大哥”利用“写诗器”来麻痹大众。这是一种可以自动为流行乐曲配词的机器，有了它，社会就再用不着人类的创造力。如今，许多人工智能（AI）模型都能自动生成乐曲，有些还是免费的。难怪许多人担心世界会充斥着情感贫瘠、千篇一律的曲调，而人类作曲家会在这个过程中被淘汰。不过，也有更光明的迹象，显示AI很可能会推动音乐创作力大爆发。
- dystopia 反乌托邦，反面假想国，敌托帮（极度恶劣的假想处境或状况）
- churn out 快速生产、大量生产
- generic 一般的；普通的；通用的
- barren 贫瘠的；不毛的
AI music-making is nothing new. The first, so-called “rules-based”, models date to the 1950s. These were built by painstakingly translating principles of music theory into algorithmic instructions and probability tables to determine note and chord progressions. The outputs were musically sound but creatively limited. Ed Newton-Rex, an industry veteran who designed one such model for Jukedeck, a London firm he founded in 2012, describes that approach as good for the day but irrelevant now.
AI音乐制作并不是什么新鲜事。最早的所谓“基于规则”的音乐制作模型可以追溯到上世纪50年代。构建这些模型要费心费力地将音乐理论原理转化为算法指令和概率表，以确定音符与和弦进行。它们制作的音乐虽然悦耳动听，却没什么创造力。业内资深人士埃德·牛顿-雷克斯（Ed Newton-Rex）就曾为自己2012年在伦敦创办的公司Jukedeck设计过这样一个模型。他表示该方法在当时挺厉害，但现在已经不算什么了。
- painstaking 需细心的、辛苦的、需专注的
- chord 和弦、和音；弦
- veteran 经验丰富的人、老手（参见：小词详解 | veteran）
