An exceptional scene unfolded this Friday evening for the audience at a concert by the National Orchestra in Seoul, South Korea, where the conductor was an android robot (Ever6) in a first-of-its-kind experience in the country. The robot, created by the Korean Institute of Industrial Technology, appeared for the first time on the Korean National Theater stage and conducted the musicians of the national orchestra.
The design of the robot mimics a human form with a face and arms, and it initially bowed to greet the audience before it began moving its arms to set the rhythm for the live performance. Choi Soo-youl, who conducted the show alongside the robot, said, "The movements of a conductor are highly detailed... the robot managed to perform those intricate movements better than I expected." However, he noted that "the main weakness" of the robot is that it cannot listen to the music.
One audience member, who studies traditional Korean music, remarked that the robot's movements lacked the ability to keep the orchestra ready to participate collectively and instantaneously at a certain pace, although its rhythmic cues were flawless. They added, "It seems there is still some work that needs to be done for the robot to perform the task perfectly."
Another audience member felt that the robot's performance appeared modest and stated, "I believe it could conduct perfectly when equipped with artificial intelligence to understand and analyze music." The robot conducted the musicians in three out of five musical pieces during the concert, including one led alongside Choi. After the concert concluded, Choi stated, "This performance showed that humans and robots can coexist and complement each other, rather than one replacing the other."
