New study finds 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI music

A new study has found that 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI music. Find all the details below.

• READ MORE: Keir Starmer tells us about “protecting creativity” in the UK

A “first-of-its-kind” survey, conducted by French streaming service Deezer and research firm Ipsos, asked around 9,000 people from eight different countries around the world, to listen to three tracks to determine which was fully AI-generated.

According to the report, 97 per cent of those respondents “failed”, with over half (52 per cent) saying they felt “uncomfortable” to not know the difference. 71 per cent also said that they were shocked at the results.

The study also found that 55 per cent of respondents were “curious” about AI-generated music, and 66 per cent said they would listen to it at least once, out of curiosity.

However, only 19 per cent said they felt that they could trust AI, while another 51 per cent said they believe the use of AI in music production could lead to low-quality and “generic” sounding music.

“The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human made tracks or not,” says Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer.

“There’s also no doubt that there are concerns about how AI-generated music will affect the livelihood of artists, music creation and that AI companies shouldn’t be allowed to train their models on copyrighted material.”

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Deezer have previously revealed that 28 per cent of music uploaded to the streaming platform was fully AI-generated.

The new stats come during a period of continued controversy for AI technology in the music industry, with a recent study sharing the stark warning that people working in music are likely to lose a quarter of their income to Artificial Intelligence over the next four years.

In September, Spotify confirmed that it was cracking down on AI by removing 75million “spammy tracks” and targeting impersonators. The statement, titled ‘Spotify Strengthens AI Protections For Artists, Songwriters, And Producers’, added: “AI technology is evolving fast, and we’ll continue to roll out new policies frequently.”

This followed a report claiming that AI-generated songs were being uploaded to dead musicians’ Spotify profiles without permission.

Earlier this year, an AI-generated ‘band’ called The Velvet Sundown made headlines after gaining around 400,000 monthly Spotify listeners – despite only existing for less than a month. A ‘spokesperson’ for the viral act later admitted that he was running a hoax aimed at “the media”.

As for how The Velvet Sundown got so many listeners on Spotify, he said: “I know we got on some playlists that just have like tons of followers, and it seems to have spiralled from there.”

Meanwhile, AI-generated artist Xania Monet has been in the headlines for signing a multimillion-dollar record deal and becoming the first AI artist to chart on the US Billboard rankings.

Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Elton John are among the big British artists to have urged Keir Starmer to protect the work of creatives back in September. This came after the Prime Minister told NME: “It’s very important we protect creativity, and we’re brilliant at creativity in this country – we punch well above our weight within the country and globally, and we’re all very proud of that.

“We need to get the balance right. That’s why we did a long and important consultation, and we’re going through the responses of that consultation now. So it is a question of getting the balance right.”

His comments followed a call on the UK government from various major acts to change copyright laws to combat the tech as it progresses rapidly. Elton John claimed in January that AI would “dilute and threaten young artists’ earnings”, while backing criticism from Paul McCartney.

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