THE JAKHE AND THE DIRECTION OF SUSTAINABILITY: AN ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SYMBOLISM, CRAFTSMANSHIP KNOWLEDGE, AND THE DYNAMICS OF A THAI STRING INSTRUMENT AMID ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between craftsmen's tacit knowledge and the technical capabilities of artificial intelligence in the case of the “jakhe,” a key Thai plucked string instrument, using its historical origins, organology, tuning system, and performance practice as grounding before turning to directions for sustainable conservation. Using a qualitative ethnomusicological approach, the study combines document analysis with in-depth interviews with an expert craftsman and a performance scholar, applying Merriam's Concept-Behavior-Sound framework as the synthesizing thread. Findings show the jakhe's structure and materials embody acoustic knowledge accumulated through experience — from selecting sixty-year-old jackfruit heartwood to a hybrid tuning system negotiating Thai and Western scales. Knowledge transmission faces sustainability risks as voicing techniques remain undocumented tacit knowledge that varies across craftsmen schools. The study proposes concrete directions for AI to decode the acoustic algorithm of the instrument's characteristic timbre and to simulate the acoustic properties of jackfruit heartwood, while still falling short of an artist's aesthetic judgment. A sustainable future for the jakhe therefore rests on a balance between tradition and innovation, with AI supporting the behavior and sound dimensions of the framework without encroaching on the concept dimension — the spiritual core of the art — in line with the theme “Artificial Intelligence for Humanity, Society, and a Sustainable Future.”

Keywords: Jakhe, Ethnomusicology, Tacit Knowledge, Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Sustainability