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Rock music often looks at the tensions between man and machine, sometimes casting technology as a force that takes the humanity out of the songs, reducing musicians to cogs in the OK Computer.

Other times technology is seen as something empowering, giving musicians more freedom and outlets for expression than would otherwise be possible. The electro-psychedelic rock band A.I. brings these tensions into its music, using electronic instrumentation while being careful not to let the machines take too much control of its sound.

A.I. will be playing this Sunday at Westwood Brew Co. along with four other L.A. bands as part of the Acoustic Live showcase of Los Angeles-area music. The show is free and open to all ages.

With a name that stands for Artificial Intelligence, bringing to mind images of robots and technological advancement, it’s no surprise that the band incorporates electronic music styles into their sound. Drum loops, vocal distortion, trip hop beats and drum and bass add texture to the group’s energetic music. But Nick Young, the guitarist and singer for A.I., made it clear that it’s not the machines that do the thinking in their music.

“Our name means us giving life to our instruments, using electronics to make really organic music,” said Young. “It’s actually kind of the opposite of what you think of as Artificial Intelligence.”

Keeping this feeling of humanity in their machine-dominated music is important to the three members of A.I. For their debut album which they released last August, instead of recording in the traditional way of layering and cutting and pasting sounds using computers, the members learned live arrangements of all their songs, playing all instruments simultaneously. Onstage A.I. also differs from a lot of electronic-inclined bands by refusing to use sequencers or DAT recordings during live shows.

This musical ethic gives A.I.’s songs a more spontaneous, organic quality, but it also means the members have to multi-task. Pablo Manzarek, A.I.’s keyboardist, lays out bass lines with his right hand and plays melody with his left. Zack Young, Nick’s brother, plays the drums and brings in 17 different beat triggers during a typical set.

“We love the huge palette all these electronic instruments offer us,” said Young. “But in the end, we’re just doing a song about the world we live in or feelings for a girl, just simple human emotions but expressing them in newer, exciting ways.”

A.I.’s latest project is scoring the film “Below the Belt” on which Nick and Zack’s father, film director Robert Young, just finished production. The film is set in a factory where the characters are dominated by the machines they work with: themes that are fitting to A.I.’s music. The members have used this project to expand their sound, bringing in tango, breakbeats, and orchestral arrangements.

But A.I.’s show on Sunday will be a more stripped-down, acoustically-oriented set than their work on “Below the Belt” or their album. For the Acoustic Live performance, A.I. will be playing versions of their songs with fewer instruments and an even more pronounced human touch than usual.

“We’ll still bring in a little electronic music,” said Young. “Not because we rely on it but because it will sound cool.”