Google is developing a brand new artificial intelligence tool called MusicLM. Its principle is simple: explain in writing what type of music you want to listen to, and the AI, in response, automatically generates it.
For sure, artificial intelligence is going to be the new workhorse of multinationals over the next few years. The meteoric explosion of ChatGPT has indeed reshuffled the cards and kicked the anthill, even giving some large groups a few cold sweats.
As a reminder, this chatbot is able to respond to any request with structured, relevant, simple and complete comments – even if there are errors –, all in just a few seconds. Its enormous success has recently pushed OpenAI to monetize its tool through a paid subscription.
MusicLM at your service
Faced with this small revolution, resistance is getting organized: Google is obviously on the front line to defend its interests and show what it is capable of. Here is MusicLM, the answer of the Californian giant in the field of artificial intelligence (but not with the same objective).
As its name suggests, MusicLM takes on the musical universe. The idea is simple: all you have to do is write a melody description with more or less precision – it’s up to you – for the AI to generate a musical piece that matches your search. This project was discovered via a research article published on January 26.
The article in question is signed by a dozen Google employees. By way of example, this written description is quoted in particular: a ” soothing violin melody paired with a distorted guitar riff“. Google also claims to be capable of creating a 90s techno track from Berlin, with a powerfulkick.
A preliminary version already online
To get a taste of its future artificial intelligence, Google has put the MusicCaps service online, which is similar to a preliminary version of MusicLM. A total of 5,500 melodies generated by its AI from written text are available on the California firm’s Github account.
For the moment, MusicLM has not been deployed for the general public, for several reasons. Google notably mentions issues related to plagiarism that have yet to be resolved. According to the study, 1% of the examples generated seem to correspond approximately to existing music.
Representation and cultural appropriation are also part of the ethical challenges facing Google.
AI at the center of attention
This first offensive by the giant shows the extent to which artificial intelligence is at the heart of its projects. To reinforce this observation, it suffices to take a look at the company’s recent activities: Sergey Brin and Larry Page would have simply been called back to accelerate its plans relating to AI.
Just recently, the four-color colossus laid off no less than 12,000 people. It was also an opportunity for Sundar Puchai, its CEO, to recall how crucial AI was for the future of the company. “We are ready to tackle it boldly and responsibly“, he had explained.
A Time investigation reveals that to make ChatGPT less toxic, its creator OpenAI used a contractor exploiting Kenyan workers paid less than two dollars an hour.
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