Douglas Eck, a former University of Montreal computer science professor, has used machine learning to power Google Play Music's recommendations. Along with team members at Google Brain, Eck is launching Magenta. The project involves Google's TensorFlow to create algorithms to generate music.
Eck explained:
I'm primarily looking at how to use so-called "generative" machine learning models to create engaging media. Additionally, I'm working on how to bring other aspects of the creative process into play. For example, art and music is not just about generating new pieces. It's also about drawing one's attention, being surprising, telling an interesting story, knowing what's interesting in a scene, and so on.
With it, Eck added that his plans for the future after music, is to include videos and other visual arts.
