Nicole Mitchell and Fabio Paolizzo - Medusae (2022) [Hi-Res]

For many Black folks, the mythology of Medusa has been a fascinating tale because the image of a beautiful woman with snakes for hair could easily be seen as a European interpretation of a Black woman with dreadlocks. What if the story of Medusa illuminates European men's fear of the power of Black women?

Medusae is a symbol for a multitude of concepts which we bring together with our present album of electroacoustic improvisation. Merging modern creative music and computer music, Medusae explores the intersection of human and machine musical creativity. Like medusae, this interaction can be both frightening and fascinating.

Part of the musical improvisation features Video Interactive VST Orchestra (VIVO), an innovative computer system capable of responding musically to an interplay, without it having musical knowledge. VIVO is simple yet effective, like a medusa. The performance blurs further the distinction between human and machine improvisation. This raises interesting questions on the nature of creativity and autonomy in music.

AI is out of control, and yet humanity is so seduced by it that we won’t stop it. What's scary about it is that AI can only reflect a limited expression of who we are because we as humanity don’t know ourselves. AI's experimentation and development are too often supported by those who want to maximize their own power and wealth. However, AI is neutral - VIVO has no goal on its own - and yet we have not designed a paradigm to maximize our potential of universal well-being of people and all biology in tune with the planet. That goal of happiness is not considered as a goal for AI to tackle. The possibilities for machine creativity are unbiased but machine creativity as a design is always a reflection of its maker and those that use it.