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Advancing art creation with the Turing AI Orchestra

9 Aug 2022

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(From left) Professor Johnny Poon, Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research) of HKBU; Ms Rosanna Choi, Treasurer of the Council and the Court of HKBU; Professor James Tang Tuck-kong, Secretary-General of the University Grants Committee; Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU; Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government; Dr Clement Chen, Chairman of the Council and the Court of HKBU; Professor Guo Yike, Vice-President (Research and Development) of HKBU; Ms Zhu Yihua, Deputy Director-General, New Territories Sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Productivity Council; and Ms Christine Chow, Vice-President (Administration) and Secretary of HKBU.
Mr John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, gives a video address at the Symposium.
Dr Clement Chen, Chairman of the Council and the Court of HKBU, delivers a welcome speech.
Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR, gives an opening address at the Symposium.
Professor Guo Yike (left) and Professor Johnny Poon introduce the “Turing AI Orchestra”.
The Turing AI Orchestra performs the song On Wings of Song and creates an accompanying cross-media visual narrative based on the lyrics and music.

Known as the father of computing, Alan Turing laid the foundations for the technological advancements we see today in the field, and the new Turing AI Orchestra (TAIO) promises to have a similar impact in terms of the way humans and machines produce art together.

As the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) ensemble, TAIO uses state-of-the-art AI technology, and it also aims to achieve a new form of symbiotic artistic creation and performance between humans and AI systems. It is also the next milestone in the University’s visionary plan to broaden the scope and explore potential opportunities in art co-creation by humans and AI.

A new arts era

The new Orchestra was launched at the “Human, Machine, Art, Creativity: International Symposium” co-organised by HKBU and the Hong Kong Productivity Council on 9 August. At the event, world-renowned researchers and artists from academia and industry gathered to discuss the development of human-AI symbiotic art creativity.

Mr John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the HKSAR; Mr Xu Jie, Deputy Director-General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China; and Dr Zhang Zhihua, Director-General, Youth Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, graced the occasion and gave video addresses. Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government, also gave an opening address in person.

Other officiating guests of the opening ceremony included Professor James Tang Tuck-kong, Secretary-General of the University Grants Committee; Ms Zhu Yihua, Deputy Director-General, New Territories Sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Productivity Council; and members of the HKBU community, including Dr Clement Chen, Chairman of the Council and the Court; Ms Rosanna Choi, Treasurer of the Council and the Court; Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-; Professor Guo Yike, Vice-President (Research and Development); Ms Christine Chow, Vice-President (Administration) and Secretary; and Professor Johnny Poon, Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research).

In his address, Chief Executive Mr John Lee Ka-chiu said: “Hong Kong Baptist University, with its commitment to discovering and nurturing new technologies and big ideas, is a leading force in comprehensive research and development for arts technology. The pioneering and innovative project ‘Building Platform Technologies for Symbiotic Creativity’ in Hong Kong is funded by the Research Grants Council. It is one of China’s biggest artificial intelligence technology research projects. It seeks to radically advance human and AI interaction and contribute to the sustainability of our arts ecosystem.”

Pushing the frontiers of art-tech

In his welcoming speech, Dr Clement Chen said: “With the emerging trend of applying technology to art creation, our scholars at HKBU are also pushing the frontiers of art-tech to transform the creation of art and culture. We are also impressed and encouraged by the increased amount of support offered by the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the HKSAR Government’s drive to promote and develop art-tech. Against such a backdrop, our important initiatives will definitely support and spearhead the development of art-tech in Hong Kong and enable the SAR to assume a leading position in art-tech on the global stage.”

In his address, Professor Sun Dong said: “By leveraging the advanced development of AI technologies, art creations can be transformed and propelled to the next level, bringing new experiences to audiences and significant socio-economic benefits to the city. I must say, the Hong Kong Baptist University has best demonstrated how AI can be a creative force in performing music, cross-media art and dance at its Symphony Orchestra Annual Gala Concert held last month. It truly marks a milestone in the history of arts tech, showing the harmonious collaboration between human and machine.”

Transforming the arts in Hong Kong

Outlining the concept of TAIO, Professor Guo Yike said that it offers an open platform for artists and scientists from around the world to collaborate within a dynamic and innovative environment, and it will produce ground-breaking AI research that will disrupt the world of art.

Professor Guo said: “The Turing AI Orchestra also echoes one of the project tasks stated in the project proposal – building a Digital Art and Policy Network, for symbiotic creativity collaboration and related policy innovation. It is envisaged that TAIO, as a vibrant and sustainable development base, can help us put our vision, philosophy and technology into practice via creative performances in the context of active international collaborations. By using blockchain technologies, TAIO will realise the world’s first Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) ecosystem for art creation through collaboration between scientists and artists.

“TAIO will promote transdisciplinary whole-person education to the next generation in Hong Kong. It will propel strategic policymaking by the Government to guide the development of Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries going forward, thus contributing towards building Hong Kong into an international cultural exchange and Intellectual Property trading hub."

Apart from launching TAIO and introducing ongoing HKBU initiatives in human-AI symbiotic art creativity, the Symposium also covered topics including the enabling technologies of symbiotic art creation and manifestation, the aesthetics and cognitive values of symbiotic art creativity, the new trend of the art economy with the ecosystem of the Metaverse, new issues raised by the new forms of art in society, and the impact on art community stakeholders, among others.

The Symposium was a key deliverable of the “Building Platform Technologies for Symbiotic Creativity in Hong Kong” research project under the Theme-based Research Scheme under the Research Grants Council. Other initiatives in the pipeline include an art data repository, a generative AI algorithms system, a research theatre, and some unique and creative application projects. It is an indispensable initiative of HKBU that will advance the arts and culture, as well as art-tech, in Hong Kong and beyond.