Tech Desk 
Nov 13, 2025
An undated image of an audio podcast being played on a smartphone. — AFP
A new survey has concluded that it’s now more difficult than ever before to tell if your favourite track was composed by a human or artificial intelligence (AI).
Carried out by France-based streaming platform Deezer, the survey showed that 97% of listeners were unable to tell the difference between AI- and human-composed music.
The poll, conducted online by Ipsos between October 6 and 10, asked 9,000 people in eight different countries, including Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, to listen to three music clips: two made by AI and one by humans. Nearly everyone failed to identify which was made by the AI model.
According to the survey, more than half of the participants said they felt uncomfortable realising they couldn't tell the difference. Meanwhile, 51% feared AI could lead to an increase in low-quality music, and two-thirds worried it might cause a decline in creativity.
Results from this survey clearly indicate that people do indeed care about music and want to know if they're listening to an AI- or human-made track, said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier in a statement.
Deezer highlighted that in January, one in 10 tracks streamed on its website was AI-generated, and ten months later, in October, the number had jumped to 40,000.
About 80% said they would want AI-generated music clearly labelled so listeners know what they're hearing.
To date, Deezer is the only major streaming service that systematically labels fully AI-generated content. The issue flared in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown went viral on Spotify, later disclosing that it was wholly AI-created; its top track now has over three million streams.
