Dr. Maya Ackerman, Steve Albini, Julius Dobos, Shahan Nercessian, Alex Wankhammer, Jonathan Wyner, AES San Francisco, September 9th, 2020
On this lively panel, leading designers and expert users of audio & music production tools shared their experiences and views on the present and future of artificial intelligence and machine learning-based audio applications. Audiences heard from "both sides": those who build and enjoy, and those who reject using A.I.-equipped tools. While debates around most topics concluded that the use of machine learning in the audio fields has both pros and cons, panelists were left divided over several points.
Jonathan Wyner (AES, iZotope) and Shahan Nercessian (iZotope) talked about embracing and not fearing the unstoppable technological change, while Dr. Maya Ackerman (WaveAI) spoke about A.I.'s benefit to education and its ability to enable non-expert users. Alex Wankhammer of sonible warned against over-thinking A.I.'s impact while acknowledging its limitations, Steve Albini (Electrical Audio) questioned the necessity of machine learning for producing a good record, and Julius Dobos (A.I.-Free Organization, The Creative Shop) represented a composer's point of view with arguments for organic, human-made production choices.
