Artificial intelligence (AI) can do many different things. From controlling the lights in our homes to helping us order pizzas, it seems there aren’t many more uses for AI than we already have. However, can AI make music like human beings?

Thanks to a team of Swiss scientists, AI may soon be able to come up with music especially for us. Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have created a computer algorithm (算法), the “Deep Artificial Composer” (DAC), which can create original music all by itself.

Florian Colombo, an EPFL scientist who helped create the DAC, said that AI could produce complete melodies (旋律), with a beginning and an end.

At present, the DAC is only able to produce several pieces of traditional Irish folk music, but it’s hoped that it will be able to create songs based on any type of music in the end.

To “teach” the DAC, the scientists trained it to “listen” to over 2,000 different folk songs. Based on this input (输入), the AI taught itself how to compose music, from getting the pitch (高音) and timing right, to choosing the right notes.

This process is still in its early stages, with the DAC still not producing perfect results, but Colombo told AFP that the AI’s music is still “quite pleasant to listen to.”

While the idea sounds very hopeful, we shouldn’t expect the DAC to replace real-life composers any time soon. According to Colombo, the system was designed to produce only simple melodies. So far, it can only create songs based on a single instrument.

Colombo said that his purpose in creating the DAC was to help people create their own music, not to have it made for them. His exciting new ideas came from Austrian composer Wolfgang Mozart. It’s said that he used to throw dice (掷骰子) to help him pick which notes to use when making new music.

“A good composer with creative ideas will never be replaced by an algorithm.” Colombo told AFP.

In my school, music is not just for people who play an instrument. It is for everyone. We believe music is an important part of life and that everyone should have the right to enjoy it.

We have music lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not everyone plays a musical instrument, but everyone wants to learn a little bit about music. It is never too late to play an instrument. During our lessons, we learn about musicians like Beethoven and Schumann. We not only listen to the music they wrote, but also learn about their personal history.

And it’s not just musicians who take part in our concerts. Everyone can take part! Teachers give their students some percussion instruments (打击乐器) that are easy to play. I have a few friends who don’t play music. But they played these percussion instruments well for our concert. I asked them what it felt like. One of my friends said, “I felt like I was a star performer (表演者). It made me feel confident to be on the stage (舞台).”

Each grade is able to perform in concerts. When I was in Grade 7, my classmates and I performed for our parents. We have many other musical activities. For example, last month, I took part in the Young Musician of the Year Competition (比赛) in my school this year. I played the piano and won the first.