Generative AI inspired the choreography, music, costumes and stage design for the ballet "Fusion" at the Leipzig Opera. Beatboxer and AI artist Harry Yeff fuses his voice with artificial intelligence.
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00:00 In the Fusion Ballet, artificial intelligence turns artificial artist.
00:06 It's considered the world's first AI ballet.
00:10 Choreography and music, created using artificial intelligence.
00:14 The set and costumes are inspired by AI too.
00:18 Fusion took to the stage at Leipzig Opera for this summer season.
00:23 Composer Harry Yeff uses AI to generate synthetic voices he can use in performances.
00:30 I've collected hundreds of vocal techniques from around the world
00:34 and created my own data sets, my own collections of voice to then create new phrases, new expressions.
00:40 So there are versions of me that are not me singing.
00:43 And that is something I find very, very fascinating.
00:46 The idea that we can create second selves, something that we can interact with and learn from
00:51 that is from us, but not us.
00:54 Harry Yeff has worked closely with digital technology for 15 years.
01:01 For Fusion, he trained his AI with over a thousand hours of his vocals.
01:05 Live beatboxing, melded with eerie digitally altered and looped vocals.
01:12 With the help of AI, he explores the limits of the human voice.
01:20 I feel like my ability to unlock my voice,
01:23 I've been able to control my voice in a way that has never happened before.
01:27 And it's that level of control and that level of expertise in my hyper-specialism
01:32 I very much owe to how I've embraced working with machines.
01:36 The dancers of the Leipzig Ballet react to impulses given by Yeff,
01:41 with the sound setting their bodies in motion.
01:43 The ballet shows how AI and humans can create art together.
01:49 These systems are there to unlock a human potential,
01:53 which can be beautiful and can be exciting.
01:56 And it's very much here to stay.
01:58 And I think we should lean in and understand and help younger generations
02:02 know how to use this power appropriately,
02:04 instead of covering our eyes and ears and pretending it does not exist.
02:09 our eyes and ears and pretending it does not exist.