Can Science replace Creativity in Art?
My pick of videos doing the rounds this week is 4+ minutes of reactions to Kesha’s incredible high note in “Praying”. It’s a brilliant look at the way music can influence emotions, particularly amongst passionate fans.

If you haven’t heard the song in full, check it out here. Even if you’re not a Kesha fan, the track is an undeniably wonderful FU to Dr Luke. (Side note: the backing vocals are provided by Aussie group All Our Exes Live In Texas.)
The ability for music to influence or enhance moods is well documented. And watching the Kesha reaction video reminded me of a campaign that ran late last year in the UK, for SEAT through Guardian Labs, called “Brain Waves”.
SEAT wanted to explore the interplay between science & emotion experienced across food, sport, music, maths and AI, to help audiences understand the philosophy behind their production approach.
For the musical side of the campaign, they partnered with Tinie Tempah and Laura Mvula, scanning their brains to reveal what happens to the mind when it hears music.

Based on the artists’ responses to sounds, the researchers at the University of Reading modified algorithms which generate synthetic music. They can then adjust this music to drive the emotional state of the subject.
Tinie poses a question in the content:
“Can science get us to a point where there’s a formula to drive a specific emotion?”.
Maybe it can. But I think the more important question is:
“Can science ever replace creativity to produce artistic output?”
Sony labs is releasing the world’s first musical album composed entirely by AI this year, and they have already put out the very catchy AI produced Beatles-esque single, “Daddy’s Car”. But the Kesha fan reaction video is a nice reminder that it’s the unique and unexpected moments in music that really generate emotional responses, and make fans want more… not the predictable pop riffs which AI is likely to create.
