HKUST(GZ) Computational Media Arts
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A. Bie and M. Grimshaw-Aagaard, "The Producer as Puppet," in Proc. Innovation In Music 2026, June 12–14, 2026. Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard (25/03/2026, 10:45) Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard (25/03/2026, 10:47) |
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| Resource type: Proceedings Article Language: en: English Peer reviewed BibTeX citation key: Bie2026a Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Artificial creativity, Artificial Intelligence Creators: Bie, Grimshaw-Aagaard Publisher: Aalborg University Collection: Innovation In Music 2026 |
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| Attachments | URLs https://www.inmusicconference.com/ |
| Abstract |
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"The role of the creative music producer emerged alongside technological progress, and the rise of generative AI marks a turning point for the profession. An increasing number of decision-making AI tools—such as automated mixing, mastering, and advisory systems—are being integrated into music production workflows, raising questions about how creative authority is distributed between human and machine. Drawing on Don Ihde’s postphenomenology, this paper advances a critical-conceptual analysis arguing that the growing presence of such tools risks repositioning the producer from an active creative agent to an evaluator operating within the logic of AI systems. Historically, technologies such as tape machines, consoles, and outboard gear (or their digital emulations) functioned as hands-on tools that faded into the background during use, allowing producers to act directly on sound. In Ihde’s terms, these tools operated within an embodiment relation, becoming transparent extensions of the producer’s creative intent. Decision-making AI tools alter this relationship. Rather than continuously shaping sound through the tools themselves, producers are increasingly presented with algorithmic assessments or proposed solutions that must be interpreted and evaluated. This marks a shift toward a hermeneutic relation, in which creative action is mediated through the interpretation of AI outputs rather than direct sonic engagement. Many such tools present themselves as flexible, responsive expert systems capable of ‘listening’ to sonic material and offering creative feedback. Yet the range of actions they meaningfully support is typically narrow and prestructured by their training data and algorithmic design. Drawing on Ihde’s concept of multistability, the analysis argues that these systems create the appearance of a wide range of creative paths while, in practice, situating decisions within a constrained and statistically normative space. What appears as openness and creative freedom is therefore better understood as a tightly bounded field of acceptable outcomes. Taken together, these shifts reposition the producer’s role within the creative process. As decision-making is increasingly delegated to algorithmic systems, creative agency becomes less a matter of direct action and more a matter of evaluation. The paper does not reject AI-assisted production, but examines how the underlying nature of contemporary AI systems redistribute agency within creative workflows. It concludes by arguing that maintaining creative agency under these conditions requires heightened metacognitive awareness: an ability to recognise when decision-making has been delegated to the system and to consciously reassert human judgment when necessary. These concerns have implications not only for producers, but also for the design of AI tools, music production education, and industry norms surrounding authorship and expertise. "
Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard |