Participants listened to clips of AI and human songs first without labels and then with clear “AI-generated” or “Human-made” tags. Once the AI label appeared, listeners liked the songs less, skipped them more, and avoided adding them to playlists. Human songs were seen as more emotional and authentic, while AI songs were viewed as more robotic. Both AI supporters and skeptics reacted the same way, showing how strongly the idea of “human-made” affects how music is judged.

This study was conducted with the mentorship of Manuel Cherep at MIT.