AI can never beat triumphant human spirit, Yo-Yo Ma tells Hong Kong students before launching into impromptu Bach recital
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Artificial intelligence (AI) can never beat the ability of the human spirit triumphing over circumstances and a thinking mind nourished by youthful curiosity will help lead to success, the renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma told university students in Hong Kong.
“What is it all about?” and “Why?”, the 68-year-old cellist urged the hundreds of students gathered at the Chinese University event on Tuesday to constantly ask during their formative college years.
“Don’t give up on any of those questions, because what you put into your minds at that age, that’s your bank account to withdraw from intellectually and emotionally for the rest of your life. Whatever you put in, treasure that. If they’re questions, great. If you don’t have the answers, fine.”
Asked by a student about AI, Ma stressed the technology was no substitute for the human spirit, citing his experience performing one of Beethoven’s most “sunny, noble and majestic” pieces, the Piano Concerto No 5 in E-flat Major, Op 73 Emperor.
The famed German composer is believed to have written the piece amid the Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815), while living in Vienna, Austria.
“Beethoven wrote that piece of music amid sorrow and tears as Napoleon bombarded Vienna,” Ma said. “That’s the human spirit – at his lowest point, he was able to conjure up something unbelievably optimistic.
“AI could, let’s say, produce the same piece of music, write the same Shakespeare play or Dream of the Red Chamber – whatever you want. But without the context, you can’t go to that level of appreciation.”
