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K-pop: Individual Cognition Theory

Joseph Hwang 1. Individualization of Value If I were to be asked to provide a concise definition of art that is grounded in the human senses, I would suggest that the key elements are "look (visual perception)" and "storytelling (narrative)." Any entity must exist in a cognizable form to communicate with other living beings. This form can be described as "appearance," while the narrative provides a temporal dimension, thus giving the entity life. It is only through the medium of life that art can create meaning; through this same medium, the message of that meaning can be conveyed.  It was previously stated that the economic value of each musical composition is unique. Similarly, the financial value of the artist who performs and delivers that music is also variable. Since music is an aural phenomenon, it lacks a visual representation. However, the artists who create and perform music possess a visual identity. Each artist possesses a distinctive appearanc
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Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 8

Joseph Hwang


* On July 4, 2024, Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, the godfather of K-pop and one of Korea's leading composers and producers, gave a lecture and interview at an event hosted by the Faculty of Music at Oxford University. Here, I will post a series of interviews based on the Korean summary of Mr. Kim's interview, with some of my commentary.


** I am especially grateful to Ms. Jieun Kiaer, a professor at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, for arranging and hosting this lecture and interview.


Question #8. 

Virtual bands like "Sa-gong-i-ho" and the AI era go hand in hand. It is widely predicted that AI will surpass humans in the future. Will AI take over the creative field that was once considered the domain of humans? How is the creative paradigm shifting today? 


Answer #8. 

The creative paradigm is indeed shifting rapidly due to advances in artificial intelligence (AI). What used to take humans hours to do, AI can do in minutes, and we're seeing this not only in menial tasks but in creative fields as well. While AI is undeniably changing the current creative paradigm, the original ideas and flair of human creators are still important. We believe that AI can create greater synergy by complementing and supporting these human creative capabilities. 


Many people ask me. 

"Will human creativity ever surpass AI? Is it unethical to use AI to create art?" 


I think both questions are nonsense. And it's much more important to think about how to ride the wave than to worry about getting wet when the big wave comes. 


In particular, I would say that the biggest difference between humans and AI is our imagination, and the second is our imperfection. We should pay attention to this human imperfection. We have narrative and story, conflict and drama because of our imperfections.


So I suspect that in the future, artists will be divided into two types: first, there will be artists who create their unique works by merging various AI solutions, and second, there will be artists who go deeper into themselves and create over a long period.


In other words, I think there will come a time when the artist will be more important than the art, and the authenticity of the artist will be combined with philosophy and the humanities. As Japanese philosopher Hisashi Inoue expressed the basic philosophy of popular art, "I believe the fundamental philosophy of pop art & music is to express difficult things simply.


* Joseph's comment:

I believe that the questions and answers above reflect concerns about AI having human-like personalities and intentions, rather than the dangers of AI having more capabilities than humans. Humans do not fear human creations or inventions that are functionally superior to humans. We don't tremble at the features and capabilities of cars, airplanes, and computers. We are only afraid of whether they have the consciousness and intention to think and judge for themselves without human interference and intervention, or we are concerned and afraid of non-human personalities in human creations.


Humans have considered creation and invention to be uniquely human-conscious activities. This means that we have self-imposed, tacitly agreed upon, and shared a sense that creation and invention are activities that can and should be controlled within human ethics and intentions.


However, "generative AI" has created a sense of crisis that this natural social consensus may be broken. Until generative AI reached a certain level of sophistication, humans created the "uncanny valley" fallacy, in which they sought to reassure themselves by denigrating AI's capabilities and existence as technologically or cognitively inferior.


We should doubt that creation and invention are concepts that only humans can and should do. We should also doubt whether the existence of personality is an exclusively human concept, and whether "free will," which is a human privilege, really exists. These are difficult problems, and there are no easy answers.


* References and quotations:

https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/event/k-pop-from-the-godfather-of-k-pop-and-bts

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/07/398_378556.html


* Series Posts

Part 1.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim.html


Part 2.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0392194405.html


Part 3.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01853689220.html


Part 4.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0403319480.html


Part 5.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01180798555.html


Part 6.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01478571272.html


Part 7.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01463072176.html


Part 8.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01523246664.html


Part 9. & 10.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0571719258.html


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