Professor Barton composes and performs electro acoustic music, designs and builds robots, and conducts psychological research. He combines these efforts in the development of technological tools that inspire creativity and enable meaningful human interactions (with other people, computers, and robots). These preceding purports to inspire new musical works that are intellectually, emotionally, and culturally engaging. Barton directs The Music, Perception, and Robotics Lab at WPI that explores human music perception and how technological tools can inspire and enhance musical creativity. 

Barton can speak about his work which focuses on the role of machines in the human creative process and provide analysis about the growth of AI-generated music. He can discuss related topics including: the impacts of music generated by artificial intelligence, the trust that exists between an artist and their audience and whether AI-generated music violates that trust, and the potential of AI to allow a broader group of people to make their own music without the need for music lessons.