Google Chairman pro-Artificial Intelligence, anti-Apple Music

Google Chairman – and soon to be Executive Chairman of Alphabet –Eric Schmidt has recently explained the direction and position of Google in relation to the future of music. Between taking shots at Apple Music's model he explains whyArtificial Intelligence should be put at the forefront of the millennial music experience.

Schmidt said in his op-ed to the BBC over the weekend: “A decade ago, to launch a digital music service, you probably would have enlisted a handful of elite tastemakers to pick the hottest new music. Today, you’re much better off building a smart system that can learn from the real world — what actual listeners are most likely to like next — and help you predict who and where the next Adele might be.”

Breaking new grounds in customer observation and hot spotting, comes Google’s new attempt at utilising their access of human behaviour. Integrating Artificial intelligence into the music consumption of society may seem like another far-fetched idea to pry into the lives of innocent people in order to target areas vulnerable to persuasion.

The concept of artificial Intelligence has long been the arm-lengths reality that society has fathomed and imagined for decades now. This sci-fi paradigm is slowly becoming more and more tangible as we delve deeper into the technology and development of integration between robotic and computerised intelligence and human life. Depicted in more movies and manifested in more ways then ever seen before, A.I. is becoming a reality faster then you can say Lawnmower Man.

With the constant battle and panic of the music industry’s attempt to combat internet piracy and declining music sales, the push for innovation, creation and alternative paths of accessing and paying for music is at an all-time high. From Jay Z’s attempt to create the narrowest of windows and niche platforms to access music in TIDAL, through to Apple’s most recent endeavour Apple Music, music listeners are inundated with pressure to favour one type of listening avenue. The battle between hosts and platforms will continue to surge but beyond the question of ‘how you listen’ emerges a new battle over ‘who’ you listen to and ‘why’ you listen to them.

Schmidt’s argument comes on the back of Apple’s direction in relying on human knowledge and taste when suggesting what people may like. Apple Music is known for its class of taste connoisseurs when filtering suggested music to the public. This forms the basis for the future debate when looking at Google vs. Apple. Apple seems to be set on observing the natural and physical habits and taste of society when determining modelling and innovation for user interaction; whereas Google’s push to rely on Artificial Intelligence in finding what people want lies at the heart of the conflict.

Schimdt alluded to this fact and argued that "[A smart system is] a much less elitist taste-making process — much more democratic — allowing everyone to discover the next big star through our own collective tastes and not through the individual preferences of a select few”.

Whether or not you believe in Robots choosing music for you, the question still stands that the future is here and music is most defiantly at the forefront of history.