ROBOTICtack

for alto, ensemble and live electronics (2017), 12 min.

Score ROBOTICtack

Commissioned by SWR Experimental Studio
First performance: 01.05.2017 Funkhaus Köln 2017/ Acht Brücken Festival
Alt: Noa Frenkel Conductor: Delef Hausinger
Technical assistant: Thomas Hummel
Ensemble Experimental

"When Robots Give Us Leisure Time. A Future Problem.

The digitization of work, the use of robots, necessitates fundamental questions about the role of humans in this process. Machines and robots, designed to act and decide more autonomously, are entering the realm of human life. Previously confined to largely automated factories, where they efficiently generate maximum profits in place of demanding, error-prone, and unionized human workers, robots are now expected to do more. Beyond the world of work, they are now expected to learn to act independently, even learning from their own mistakes, something not always achieved by many humans. And on top of that, they're expected to learn morals, ethics, and culture—values that many people seem to be losing.

Which programming deity will create them? On what day? Will the humanoids become the more humane machines? Would they protect the planet and animals better to preserve their moral sensibilities? Or would they pose ethical problems, leading to new dependencies rather than freedoms, turning humans into monitored objects of technical systems or powerful monopolies? A consequence could be the loss of privacy and self-determination. People fear that computers will become too intelligent and could take over our world. However, the real problem is that they are foolish and have already taken over the world. In the future, we will have to undertake things that humans find easy but machines do not.

Musically, electronics competes with the ensemble. At first reserved, the machines gradually gain dominance. Both worlds try to learn from each other, as they can benefit from it. While increasing the rhythm may still be a metronome in the pursuit of maximum productivity, the question of perfection becomes more and more prominent. Fragmented uncertainty and fear of the future permeate the human ensemble. Will the robots replace them too? Meanwhile, the robots are already practicing harmony and imitation. Perhaps shutting down will bring salvation?—Both are practicing the restart. Each in its own way."

Ying Wang, April 2017, Schreyahn