From Undergraduate Research to Conference Presentation: A Taste of Human – AI Interdisciplinary Collaboration

A team of seven undergraduates from the Department of Computer Science and the Academy of Music has achieved a significant milestone in their research journey. Their research paper titled “MoMusic: A Motion-Driven Human-AI Collaborative Music Composition and Performing System” has been presented at the 13th AAAI Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence (EAAI) held on 12 February 2023 in the United States.

The interdisciplinary team comprised three computer science students, including Yijn Song from BSc in Business Computing and Data Analytics (Year 3), Weizhen Bian and Nianzhen Gu from BSc in Computer Science (Year 4), and four students from the Academy of Music. This extraordinary journey started from their research experience last Summer. With an idea to make the Chinese music scene more creative, the team developed the MoMusic chord structure composition system by combining artificial intelligence voice-changing technology, music theory knowledge, and human-computer interaction to create new chord structures. Their research solved the problem of delay between detection and chord playing by adjusting the links between the FastSpeech and hifigan models and tweaking the relevant parameters.

“Presenting our research paper at this international conference as an undergraduate student was an amazing opportunity that exceeded our expectations. It gives us the chance to share our work with experts in the fields and demonstrate the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration with our limited undergraduate research experience.” said Weizhen Bian, who represented the team giving the presentation in the United States.

As mentors of the team, Dr. Wei Xue, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Dr. Roberto Alonso Trillo, Assistant Professor of the Academy of Music, provided a lot of guidance and direction on the research topic to the team. They consistently offered feedback and critique for improvement, shared expertise and knowledge, and also facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dr. Xue expressed pride in the interdisciplinary work of the team and its contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and music. “The MoMusic project is an excellent example of how the intersection of computer science and music can lead to exciting new innovations. Our students have developed a system that can create entirely new chord structures and enhance human-computer interaction. It is a great achievement to have our work accepted at the EAAI 2023 conference.”

The acceptance of the MoMusic paper and the presentation opportunity at the EAAI conference signify the quality of research conducted by the undergraduates and demonstrate the importance of undergraduate research experience in preparing for future academic and professional pursuits.

The Department of Computer Science is committed to enhancing students’ learning experience and nurturing the next generation of researchers. We offer both overseas and local summer research programmes to students to engage early in academic research, thereby helping them to develop insightful perspectives on their areas of interest and advance the frontiers of knowledge.