Artists teach a choir of GPU fans to sing with AI and the result is not as soulless as you might think

A strange machine made up of many symmetrical, white and gold cabinets containing computer fans. Neatly organised, white wires trail from an embossed central unit made of brass to these fan cabinets either side. The entire machine is mounted on a brick wall. — (Image credit: Leon Chew, The Call, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst with sub, Serpentine, 2024)

From simulating online social interactions to generating entire podcast episodes based on whatever data you feed it, AI is depressingly inescapable in our present moment. Now, AI has been harnessed to create a 'GPU pipe organ' (via Tom's Hardware) — or rather, a wall of fans that acoustically emits a choral sound thanks to a diffusion model minutely adjusting the RPM of each blower.

When you consider the totally justified ethical concerns surrounding how many AI projects gather their data sets (ie, often by stealing from other creators), this art project is bound to raise some hackles. However, there's a twist in this tale, so reel your shoulder blades in.

In order to build their own data set to train the AI, the art project's co-authors, artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, first put together a songbook of hymnals that cumulatively express every phoneme in the English language. Then, they took that songbook on tour alongside the Serpentine Arts Technologies team to record 15 different community choirs across the UK on a voluntary basis.

Holly Herndon elaborated on the ownership of those recordings, writing on X, "This dataset is owned by the choirs in question through a new IP structure we created alongside [Serpentine's] Future Art Ecosystems team to allow for common ownership of AI data."

The dataset is now the largest available to researchers, future proofed by recording each choir ambisonically to provide precise recall of the sound in each roomThis dataset is owned by the choirs in question through a new IP structure we created alongside @SerpentineUK Future… pic.twitter.com/kwCQHrKYc7October 5, 2024

This suggests the contributing choristers have more of a say in how their performances are used - which is miles better than the all too common fate of many a voice actor discovering their voice has been cloned without their permission.

The choirs' performances were recorded ambisonically, and then used to create "a new polyphonic call and response model." Titled 'The Call,' the result is an interactive art installation that encourages audience participation; make some noise, and The Call responds. The Call is currently installed at the Serpentine North Gallery in Hyde Park, London and you can experience it for yourself for free until February 2nd, 2025.

Our GPU organ plays music acoustically by controlling the RPM of each fanThe Call is now open to the public until February @SerpentineUK in Hyde Park London pic.twitter.com/0wQHMnvNQ2October 5, 2024

Presented in a stunning white and gold frame with a central unit made from embossed brass, the 'organ' is striking to look at even if you're still feeling a bit dubious about how its sonic output was created. Still, it's a more pleasing sound than my rig's overtaxed fans.

Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending the last seven working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not writing about all things hardware here, she’s getting cosy with a horror classic, ranting about a cult hit to a captive audience, or tinkering with some tabletop nonsense.