Where “AI” stands for artistic intelligence
Professor Rob Maas, who teaches keyboards and music production at the faculty, sees AI as potentially enriching for his subject. ‘By using AI judiciously, one can focus more on what is essential: one’s own creative work.’ Moreover, AI can be used to continue a long tradition. ‘People have always tried to automate music. Even Mozart experimented with a “Musikalisches Würfelspiel” as a form of algorithmic composition.’ Music producers already use many tools trained on pattern recognition, e.g. for equalising, audio analysis and mastering assistance. Most people are perhaps unaware that artificial learning is at work in the background. ‘For smaller, less demanding formats, AI-assisted software is more of a labour-saving convenience,’ says Rob Maas.
Debates about AI often revolve around potential job losses. Many students, too, Rob Maas knows, ‘fear for their jobs’. He nevertheless counsels equanimity and self-assurance. The human mind is unique. Every AI merely draws on human models that have already undergone the multifaceted process of creativity. This form of statistics does not even come close to the mainstream at present. ‘But we are not seeking mediocrity; we are seeking what moves us.’
This is not the only reason Stephan Froleyks remains optimistic about the career prospects of graduates. ‘Our degree programmes are very strong in the area of interpretation.’ It is a matter of extremely refined perception, of nuances of sounds or interpretations. ‘AI cannot match that yet,’ especially because it is not enough to compose one note after the next. In addition to highly technical challenges, music students must also penetrate the work itself, for example understanding the arc of tension in a twenty-minute sonata. ‘At the University of Music, we are more interested in artistic intelligence than in artificial intelligence,’ the Dean concludes.
The development suggests, rather, that producers should be worried about the future. ‘There is a lot of rubbish on the Internet. AI songs still sound rather unimpressive. But it is people’s right to produce and listen to them,’ concedes Stephan Froleyks. Everyone must engage with music in whatever way suits them. The Dean is convinced that classical music will remain. The need to play and listen to music will always exist. ‘That is why we start at the elementary level and try to prepare students to pass on their knowledge. Musicians have always been educators who have felt an obligation to pass on their skills.’ Although some accomplished self-taught musicians acquire their musical skills online via learning platforms, they quickly reach their limits in classical music. ‘Learning must be accompanied by people and encounters.’ In instrumental lessons at the University of Music, students not only learn technique, they also refine their ‘social skills’, e.g. in finding their role as part of an ensemble.
Remain critical and stay in the driving seat – this is the message Rob Maas wants to convey to his students. ‘I insist that my students engage with AI every semester, so that they are not overwhelmed by it later.’ The restoration of old recordings, for example, has become much better. Composing in the style of well-known composers can likewise help to understand them. ‘For teaching, this is very interesting.’ When practising, one can let the AI listen. ‘It is able to identify and rectify problems, for example when the rhythm or intonation is not right.’ Another advantage is that the machine never loses patience even after listening to a passage for the umpteenth time.
There are reasons enough to regulate the use of AI, e.g. with regard to copyright and personality rights. What many observers, music fans and students agree on in this debate is the desire for transparency. In the miz study, two-thirds of the population aged 16 and over call for AI-generated music to be clearly labelled.
Author: Brigitte Heeke
This article appeared in the University newspaper wissen|leben, No. 7, 11 November 2026.