David Cope, a fine composer in his own right, has written software that rivals, or even surpasses, his own composing skills. His work is based on copying the great works of the past, analyzing patterns and disruptions, and creating new music following similar rules.

Some people apparently find this a bit frightening, but Cope suggests this is nonsense:

“I can understand why it’s an issue if you’ve got an extremely romanticized view of what art is,” he says. “But Bach peed, and he shat, and he had a lot of kids. We’re all just people.”