Paris – A new survey has found that it is nearly impossible for people to distinguish between music created by artificial intelligence and that produced by humans.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos, involved 9,000 participants who were asked to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music. The survey, commissioned by France-based streaming platform Deezer, revealed that 97% of respondents could not tell the difference between music entirely created by AI and that composed by humans.
The survey took place between October 6 and 10, across eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States.
While the results show AI’s growing ability to replicate human creativity, Deezer noted that more than half of those surveyed felt uneasy about being unable to differentiate between the two.
The survey also included broader questions about the future impact of AI on the music industry. Fifty-one percent of participants expressed concerns that the rise of AI would lead to a surge in low-quality music on streaming platforms, while almost two-thirds feared it could result in a loss of creativity within the industry.
“The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know whether they’re listening to AI-generated or human-made tracks,” said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier in a statement.
Deezer also highlighted a significant increase in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, and it seems to be gaining traction with listeners. In January, one in 10 tracks streamed daily on Deezer were completely AI-generated. Just 10 months later, this figure has surged to over one in three tracks, or nearly 40,000 per day.
As concerns about transparency grow, 80% of survey respondents stated that they would prefer fully AI-generated music to be clearly labelled for listeners. Deezer is currently the only major streaming platform to systematically label content that is entirely created by AI.
The issue of AI music gained widespread attention in June, when a band called The Velvet Sundown went viral on Spotify. It was only later confirmed that the group’s tracks were, in fact, AI-generated. Their most popular song has since been streamed more than three million times.
In response to the increasing prevalence of AI in music production, Spotify announced it would encourage artists and publishers to adopt a voluntary industry code that would disclose any use of AI in the creation of music.