Creative AI and Musicking Robots

This paper discusses the creative and technical approaches in a performative robot project called Embodied Musicking Robots (2018 – present). The core approach of this project is Human-centred AI (HC-AI) which focuses on the design, development and deployment of intelligent systems that co-operate with humans in real-time in a ‘deep and meaningful way’. HC-AI is ‘defined by two goals: (1) the AI system must continually improve by learning from humans while (2) creating an effective and fulfilling human-robot interaction experience’ [1]. This project applies these core goals as a central philosophy from which the concepts of Creative AI and Experien-tial Learning in the context of performative robots are developed. At the centre of this discussion is the articulation of a shift in thinking of what constitutes Creative AI and new HC-AI forms of computational learning from inside the flow of the shared experience between robot and human. The central case study investigates the technical solutions and artistic po-tential of AI driven robots co-creating with an improvising human musician in real-time. This project is ongoing and is part of the Creative AI Research Group in the Institute of Creative Technologies at De Montfort University