A small group of students led by two Frost School faculty are doing innovative work on one of the most exciting and controversial areas in, not just the world of music, but the world. The Concerts with Humans and Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) project explores the possibilities and risks at the intersection of music and AI technology, with its potential to change how music is understood, made, used, regulated, and consumed.
The faculty behind the CHAI project are Raina Murnak, assistant professor in the Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship (M.A.D.E.) program, and Tom Collins and Christopher Bennett, both associate professors in the Music Engineering Technology program. CHAI is funded by a highly competitive $100,000 grant from the University of Miami Lab for Integrative Knowledge, or U-LINK.
Murnak, Collins, and Bennett believe understanding AI is important to everyone in music, particularly the Frost School, an influential institution with an ethos of innovation.
“We don’t take a position on whether people should use AI,” said Collins, who came to the Frost School in 2023 from the University of York in his native England, and has a bachelor’s in music and another in math and statistics. “It’s more an opportunity to understand the impact of these new tools. You’ve got human musicians and listeners. You’ve got tech companies and technological innovation. You’ve got the space in between, like YouTube and social media.”
“We want faculty and students to be informed. It’s better to try this yourself than see what someone else is saying about it. To form one’s opinions based on exposure to and knowledge of something.”
In April, CHAI will present a concert of original music created by current Frost students and alumni using AI. This weekend, a song the group created using AI, “Heart Not Found,” will be one of ten finalists in the International AI Song Contest in Switzerland. CHAI members will perform as a band called Error 305. Media scoring and production student Winston Thayer, a creator of last spring’s Rock Symphonic event, made the music video.
Murnak, who is teaching a music-making and technology class in M.A.D.E. as part of CHAI, was on Collins’s hiring committee and was immediately compelled by his ideas. She believes it’s essential for students to learn about AI and the changes it will bring. “The sooner our students learn to master these tools, the safer they will be,” Murnak said. But she also thinks the technology can and should aid their artistry. “We can use this in very creative ways,” Murnak said. She notes that educators teach centuries-old compositional techniques. “We’d be remiss not to dedicate the same time to present and future tools. There will be many intellectual property issues and other issues already there. But you can’t contend with anything without understanding it.”
Amanda Pasler, a master’s student in music engineering who is a key member of CHAI, came up with the melody and concept for “Heart Not Found,” working with the group as they used AI to seamlessly merge Murnak’s vocals with Pasler’s, as the song shifts from an R&B musing on a love object to a raging, grungy rocker sung by an obsessive stalker.
She loved the exploratory, collaborative process. “What we were able to make was so different from anything I’ve ever made,” said Pasler, who minored in songwriting while getting her bachelor’s and has been fascinated by AI since taking Collins’ Music + AI class her senior year. “It was great to have so many ideas about how to take the song to this new space."
This summer, Pasler worked with Collins and Murnak to teach music and AI classes at the Donna E. Shalala MusicReach summer program for middle and high school students, which is part of CHAI’s effort to understand how people view the new technology. “I think AI really excited them,” Pasler said. “There were fewer limitations with what they were able to do, and they were able to get creative ideas with less of a background.”
Like them, Pasler is excited by this new tool. “It’s important not to let our fear of the evolution of technology get in the way of evolving,” she said.
Yet another of the CHAI project’s goals is to examine the legal and ethical implications of how AI in music. If, for instance, the technology is used to make music out of songs written and performed by human artists, how do you define who created, and who profits from, that music?
“CHAI is poised to study this moment, to come up with some principals and share opinions on whether this should be allowed, or how that should be allowed,” said Collins. “As a music school, we’re a stakeholder in that process. If we come out strongly against one particular technology or another, people will listen. Maybe lawmakers will listen. CHAI is between the tech, the law and ethics, and human musicians, and it’s trying to help chart a course."
The AI Song Contest will be streamed live starting at 2 pm EST on Saturday, Oct. 5th (CHAI will perform towards the beginning) here: https://www.youtube.com/@aisongcontestYT/streams
