Von: Lepa, Steffen
Datum: Thu, 19 Feb 2026
Betreff: [ak-discourse] Keynote presentations on Mon 23.02.2026: Bob Sturm and Paolo Maggauda on AI music
Dear staff, alumni and friends of the Audio Communication Group,
As part of a meeting of the DFG-funded academic network Music and Social Transformations of the Present hosted by the Computational Musicology Team of our group, we have the honour to announce two international guest keynote speakers on upcoming Monday, 23rd February 2026.
Both of their presentations will be open to the interested public. Thematically, the will be dealing with the ongoing transformations of global music life due to AI music. In a third session, we will open a plenary discussion with the network members and the interested local and online audience.
###
Keynote 1: 13:00 CET, Room H 3004, TU Berlin Main Building – moderated by Steffen Just and transmitted via Zoom at: https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/61581286996?pwd=Nca3BXxfubacRPptFOaHhJVpZTfGqe.1
Bob Sturm (Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm, Sweden): I am troubled
At the conclusion of my ERC-funded project “MUSAiC: Music at the Frontiers of Artificial Creativity and Criticism”, I find that I am troubled. First, I am troubled by the collision of what I think I know about the engineering of large language models with how I see them being used, sold and valued. Something, I think, is deeply wrong here. Second, I am troubled by contradictions in my a/r/tography praxis—that is, being an artist, researcher and teacher in private and professional worlds increasingly inflected and infected by AI and AI-speak. These contradictions center on my creative and pedagogic practices, personal beliefs in intellectual property and individual liberty, and moral judgements about training AI systems on the world’s data, and neoliberalism more broadly. My talk will focus, of course, on just how troubled I am, and my current thinking about it all.
###
Keynote 2: 14:30 CET, Room H 3004, TU Berlin Main Building – moderated by Carsten Wernicke and transmitted via Zoom at: https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/61581286996?pwd=Nca3BXxfubacRPptFOaHhJVpZTfGqe.1
Paolo Magaudda (University of Padova, Italy): Ruptures and Reassemblages in Music in the Age of AI
In 2023, generative AI abruptly became a mass and highly contested sociotechnical phenomenon, triggering visible ruptures across the music world. This talk examines these transformations through the lens of Science and Technology Studies, approaching music not as a stable object, but as a contingent and constantly negotiated assemblage of human artists and non-human technologies, intertwined with practices, regulations, markets, and cultural values. From this perspective, generative AI does not simply introduce new tools; it unsettles existing alignments and sets in motion processes of reassembly across multiple dimensions of the musical sector. I focus on four areas where these dynamics become especially visible: creative practices, authenticity, platforms, and copyright—along with emerging forms of collective agency mobilized in response to AI. Rather than framing AI as a singular technological revolution, I argue that it triggers multiple, overlapping and contested reassemblages. Many open questions remain to be addressed in the coming years, including whether AI will fundamentally transform music in society or instead be gradually absorbed and normalized within contemporary musical cultures, practices, and market models.
###
Plenary Discussion: 16:00 CET, Room H 3004, TU Berlin Main Building – moderated by Steffen Lepa and transmitted via Zoom at: https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/61581286996?pwd=Nca3BXxfubacRPptFOaHhJVpZTfGqe.1
The plenary discussion will be dealing with the implications of both presentations for music life in general and specifically, for music sociology.
Furthermore, we plan to discuss, what a ‘computational music sociology’ could be and what other transformations beyond AI music will play a role as research topics in music sociology in the upcoming years.
###
Looking forward to see you in person or online!
Kind regards,
Steffen
Pronouns: he/him
***
Dr. Steffen Lepa
Postdoc Researcher & Lecturer
Audio Communication Group (Sekr. EN-8)
Technische Universit?t Berlin
Einsteinufer 17c
10587 Berlin
Germany
Room H 2001 E
FON: +49 (0)30 – 314 – 29313
FAX: +49 (0)30 – 314 – 12329313
MAIL: steffen.lepa@tu-berlin.de
WWW: https://www.tu.berlin/en/ak/about/team/dr-steffen-lepa
Smartphone/Messenger: +491794562244
***