As a musician I've wondered what generating actually good music would mean. Music is such a cultural experience, tied in with a sense of being part of a social

As a musician I've wondered what generating actually good music would mean. Music is such a cultural experience, tied in with a sense of being part of a social group, that I don't think we would ever let computers completely replace humans in producing it - until they become sentient and we start seeing them as friends. (How could a computer be a part of my social group unless it was sentient?) I think the non-research value will be like the value of chess computers to chess communities. It enriches the community, helping them develop their craft, but the community is still a community of humans. http://theconversation.com/how-computers-changed-chess-20772 http://theconversation.com/how-computers-changed-chess-20772 I can think of a few ways machines have beaten humans before, but where human experience is still valued in a way the machine achievement isn't. Modern weapons are valued for what they do, and they can beat any human, but the human practice of martial arts is still valued despite that fact. A player piano with a roll performed by Rachmaninoff will deliver an excellent reproduction of a historic performance, but I'd still rather listen to my friend play, even if what I'm hearing comes down to objectively worse key pressing.