Can AI do this?

I’m very lucky that in my day job (The Advertist), my podcast (Fuel) and now SuperTalent, I get to speak to some of the world’s most creative people in the field of advertising and marketing.

It goes without saying that AI has been front and center of a lot of conversations.

I’ve heard that the sky is falling and also that the horizon is limitless.

For now, my opinion is that AI’s range doesn’t cover the inspirational, emotional and empathetic elements of what it takes to be a human. I also believe that creativity is at its most impactful when it has constraints; when it is forced to play by some rules that it doesn’t like. And I believe that two talented things can make a third, unique ingredient.

And here’s my proof:

The inspirational jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. He’s had an illustrious career – probably one of the most decorated and venerated musicians on the planet.

He’s very much a musician’s musician.

Let me frame this by saying – I’m not much of a jazz fan. When I was a young lad, I tried so hard to understand my Dad’s vinyl collection of Nina Simone, Chet Baker and John Coltrane, and I only learned to love Miles Davis’ ‘A Kind of Blue’ when I was psychologically at my lowest ever ebb.

But if you know the story of Keith Jarrett’s Köln (Cologne) concert from 1975, then you’ll understand how my perspective of AI and creativity has been formed.

You see, there’s a very impressive back story to this particular concert – I won’t go into huge detail here, but a very emotional and tired Jarrett was persuaded to do an extra concert on his European tour – as a favour to a young fan in Germany.

Jarrett only played on Bösendorfer pianos, it was his thing.

Once he accepted the invitation and elected to trouser the airplane ticket money and drink and drive his way from Switzerland to Cologne instead, when he turned up, there had been a mix up – in fact a complete cock-up - on the piano front.

Instead of a full blown Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano, what stood before him in a hurriedly arranged rehearsal was instead a trashed and much smaller baby grand Bösendorfer piano.

Some keys worked and some didn’t.

It had more wrong with it than was right with it.

Jarrett was ready to throw in the towel, just as soon as he finished his drink and cigarette.

But the young concert promoter badgered and cajoled him into staying.

“Just please give it a try” she begged – after all, Jarrett at 30% was better than most at 100%.

So he did indeed give it a try.

The concert was recorded and we can all thank the Gods that it was, because that short album is one of the best pieces of music I have ever heard in my life! Bear in mind, I don’t like jazz, but I understand how it’s made and this is why I think this album alone is something that AI will never be able to deliver.

The first 15 minutes of the recording, you can hear Jarrett probing and testing this wreck of a piano; seeing how far it would allow him to go, adjusting his timing, and chord structure to accommodate the missing notes and the broken sustain pedal.

In the second half of the concert, Jarrett digs in. He’s uncovered this instrument’s magic and he begins to make it sing.

He’s taking his music and adapting it to the confines of this damaged instrument to create a new piece of music. Not a repeat of his normal music, but a new piece – something totally unique and spectacular.

And that’s my analogy of where we are with AI.

AI is that broken Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano with a few notes missing and a janky sustain pedal.

We are Keith Jarrett.

What we create together is the Köln concert.