What to Know
- Identifying AI-generated music can be a little more difficult than spotting AI images.
- Look for garbled instruments and generic, excessively rhyming lyrics.
- Check the artist’s social media and online presence to see if there are real humans behind the music.
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, whether we like it or not. Its prevalence and widespread use in writing, animation, music production, and many other creative fields can make it hard to distinguish real artists from AI. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for spotting AI-generated content, there are a few signs to look out for. Let’s go over how to tell if a song is AI-generated.
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How to Tell If a Song Is AI
Identifying AI-generated images and text is relatively easy. However, artificial intelligence has gotten pretty good at mimicking instruments and human voices, allowing it to create realistic-sounding music. Because of that, it can be difficult to tell if a song is really being performed by real people or a computer. There are a few signs you can look out for to help you figure it out.
The Sound of Music
The first thing to look for, or rather, listen for, is the overall sound of the song. AI-generated songs typically sound slightly distorted, with vocals that sound like they have been processed through a filter. The song and its structure may sound formulaic and unoriginal, though this is more subjective.
Speaking of vocals, in my experience, the lyrics of an AI-generated song will sound very generic and will rhyme excessively. While a lot of song lyrics rhyme, AI will usually make every single line rhyme for the entirety of the song, unless instructed to do otherwise. Pay attention to the lyrics themselves too, as AI lyrics usually lack the creativity and emotion associated with real human singing. For more tips on artificial intelligence, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.
Stage Presence
Another telltale sign is to check the artist’s social media or YouTube and look for signs of life. If an artist is real, you should be able to find evidence of a recording company or a record label. For bands, you should be able to find individual social media accounts for each member of the band. While it is completely normal for an individual to not have any social media, any band or artist trying to grow their music's audience will be using social media.
You should also be able to find live performances of the artist’s music. AI-generated music likely won’t have any live recordings since there are no human performers. Look for the artist on YouTube or check their social media for any videos showing them playing their music in front of an audience.
Check What Others Are Saying
If you found a song on YouTube or social media that you suspect is AI-generated, you can also check the comments. Social media users are quick to point out when something was created using AI, and that extends to music.
Lastly, just listen to your gut. If something feels off about a song, chances are that it was generated using artificial intelligence. Now that you know what to look for, you should have an easier time identifying AI-generated music. Next, find out how to spot AI-generated images.
FAQ
- What is AI music? AI music is music that has been composed and is performed entirely by artificial intelligence. The instruments and vocals are all completely generated by AI.
- How does AI music work? AI music can be generated using special tools, like ChatGPT. All you need to do is provide prompts about what you want the song to be about, how it should sound, what kind of voice should be singing, etc. Once you tell the AI what you want the song to be like, it will generate the song for you.
- Does Spotify use AI? Ever since AI-generated music started to become more mainstream, it has been popping up on Spotify and recommended to users. Spotify is working on adding labels that clearly indicate when music is AI-generated, as well as adding filters to help users avoid AI music.
Top image credit: Quality Stock Arts / Shutterstock.com
