Björk's AI-Powered Soundscape Debuts at New York Hotel

Björk has launched Kórsafn, her first artificial intelligence-based musical project, in collaboration with Microsoft. The composition, whose name means 'archive of choirs' in Icelandic, is a generative soundscape that evolves autonomously based on real-time environmental data. It is currently playing on a loop in the lobby of Sister City, a hotel in New York's Lower East Side that opened in spring 2019. The AI algorithm uses Björk's own vocal archive, compiled over 17 years, to create ever-changing arrangements. The sound shifts with sunrise, sunset, pressure, and temperature changes, captured by a camera and sensors on the hotel's roof. The machine learning system improves over time, learning to recognize clouds, rain, wind, and bird flocks. Björk described the project as 'a tango with AI,' offering her choir archive to navigate through the AI 'pinball machine' following bird migrations, clouds, and barometric pressure. Kórsafn is the second in a series of lobby soundscapes commissioned by Sister City in partnership with Microsoft, following a 2019 composition by experimental musician Julianna Barwick.