Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music Allison Wente contributes expertise on the relationship between artificial intelligence, music, and the historical legacy of mechanical performance technologies.
Allison Wente, associate professor of music and chair of the Department of Music, was recently interviewed and quoted in an article in Scientific American. The article, “AI Music Is Booming, and the Player Piano Saw It Coming,” by Steven Melendez, explores how current debates surrounding AI in music echo earlier moments of technological change.
Wente’s research examines the relationship between music, performance, composition, and technology, particularly in relation to the player piano. She explores these topics in her 2022 book, “The Player Piano and Musical Labor: The Ghost in the Machine.” In the article, she offers a perspective on historical and contemporary questions of authorship, authenticity, and creativity, highlighting how emerging technologies continue to reshape the ways music is created, performed and experienced.