Beethoven, undeniably one of the greatest musicians in history, carried a substantial regret throughout his life – the incomplete Tenth Symphony.

This stands as an enduring lament for aficionados of Beethoven's music.

Battling persistent health issues, Beethoven, exhausted after producing the groundbreaking Ninth Symphony, left the world three years later, leaving behind mere notes and fragments.

In the century following the 20th century, numerous musicians attempted to resurrect the splendor of the Tenth Symphony. However, due to their limitations, nearly none succeeded, except for Barry Cooper, who finalized the first and second movements in the 1980s.

The question persists: Can we truly realize a complete Tenth Symphony based on Beethoven's unfinished drafts? The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) offers a promising avenue.

A team comprising the world's foremost experts across various domains is deploying AI to bridge the gaps in the Tenth Symphony. As of this October, we anticipate hearing the symphony in its entirety. The question lingers: Can AI genuinely rival human artistic expression?

In early 2019, Dr. Matthias Rode, director of the Karajan Institute, a Salzburg-based organization dedicated to music technology, contacted AI experts. The objective was to assemble a team to complete Beethoven's 10th Symphony to celebrate the composer's 250th birthday. The pivotal question was whether AI could effectively contribute to filling the void left by Beethoven.

The challenge appeared formidable. To achieve this, the AI had to undertake a task unprecedented in its capabilities. Dr. Rode assembled a team, led by computational music expert Mark Gotham, responsible for transcribing Beethoven's sketches and processing his entire body of work to adequately train the AI.

The team also included Robert Levine, a Harvard musicologist and accomplished pianist. Levine had previously worked on incomplete 18th-century compositions by Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach.

In June 2019, the group convened for a two-day workshop at Harvard's Music Library, discussing how to transform fragments into a complete musical piece and how AI could contribute while staying true to Beethoven's process and vision.

The music experts were keen to understand AI's prior achievements in generating music. While AI successfully created music in the style of Bach, it fell short of the task at hand: constructing an entire symphony from a handful of melodies. Simultaneously, the scientists sought insights into available materials and how the experts envisioned using them to complete the symphony.

This endeavor was monumental. It went beyond merely feeding a draft into a machine, pressing a button, and expecting a symphony to emerge. The realization of such a complex piece demanded a thoughtful and nuanced approach.

The utilization of AI extends beyond the realm of music into the fine arts. At University College London, academics created several "Picassos" by inputting Picasso's paintings into a computer.

The system analyzed creative style and techniques, integrated additional creative content, and produced works, which were then printed using a 3D printer. This showcases the expanding role of AI in shaping various forms of artistic expression.

The convergence of artificial intelligence and classical art is not limited to Beethoven's Tenth Symphony. AI's creative capabilities extend to various artistic domains, as demonstrated by researchers at University College London who recreated "Picassos" using computer analysis.

By dissecting Picasso's paintings for stylistic nuances and painting techniques, the AI incorporated additional creative inputs, producing works later printed using 3D technology.