Technologies

Can You Tell AI-Generated Music From the Real Thing? Most of Us Can’t

A survey from Deezer and Ipsos reveals strong feelings about AI-generated tunes.

Our playlists are becoming a playground for AI-generated music. And that’s making us uneasy, especially because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the genuine, human-made tunes from the musical deepfakes.

According to a new survey of 9,000 people by the music service Deezer and the research firm Ipsos, participants listened to three songs and then had to choose which were fully AI-generated and which weren’t. Nearly all respondents (97%) were unable to tell the difference.

Of those who couldn’t tell, 71% said they were surprised by the results, and more than half, 52%, were uncomfortable that they couldn’t distinguish the AI music. Respondents expressed ambivalence about AI and music: About two-thirds expressed curiosity about AI-generated music, with a willingness to try listening at least once, but four out of five (80%) agreed that AI music should be clearly labeled for listeners.

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Deezer, which commissioned the survey, has reason to highlight people’s inability to distinguish between AI-generated songs and those created by humans. In January, it rolled out a detection tool for AI in music. In the release for the survey, the company said it receives 50,000 AI-generated tracks every day.

The unsettling feelings about AI and music have seen a crescendo in recent days as a tune from an AI-powered country act called Breaking Rust topped Billboard’s country digital music charts. Last month, music streaming giant Spotify signed deals with Sony, Universal and Warner to develop AI music products.

Mixed feelings on AI music

Some of the other findings from the Deezer/Ipsos survey showed curiosity and caution in listeners’ attitudes toward AI music:

46% think AI will help them discover music they like.
51% believe AI will lead to lower-quality, generic-sounding music on streaming platforms.
45% would filter out AI music from their music services if they could.
70% believe AI music threatens the livelihood of real music artists.

The Deezer/Ipsos survey of 9,000 adults ages 18-65was conducted in early October in eight countries: the United States, Canada, Brazil, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan.

Music-industry shifts

The debate over AI music extends beyond listeners and artists — even the companies that make musical instruments have a stake in the future of AI-generated songs.

«From our perspective, we see great opportunity for AI to be used as a tool to enhance and augment human creativity when the tools are developed responsibly, but we are opposed to consumption platforms that embrace purely AI-generated music positioned to compete with human creators,» said Paul McCabe, senior vice president of research and Innovation at the music gear manufacturer Roland.

McCabe said his company believes listeners should be alerted when they’re hearing AI-generated material in their music and that his company and others are working on solutions «to confirm the provenance (origin and ownership) of music.» That could include the kind of AI music detection tools that Deezer previously released, as well as new technologies that can detect and label AI-generated music.

Can AI music co-exist with human-generated music? According to McCabe, if clear labeling for audiences on AI music exists, if human artists choose to use AI to enhance their own art, and if AI-generated music elements are developed in ways that respect and protect human creativity (he cites the frameworks at AI for Music as an example), then, «yes, peaceful coexistence is possible.»

Technologies

Your Next Vacation Starts in a Chat: TripAdvisor Debuts App Inside ChatGPT

You can tap AI and TripAdvisor for your travel planning.

You may already use artificial intelligence for planning vacations, but now you can use a new TripAdvisor app inside of ChatGPT to book hotels. The app puts TripAdvisor’s reviews and hotel insights directly into ChatGPT. It’s «a new AI-powered way to experience the best of TripAdvisor,» according to the travel company.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Using the app, trip planners can see top-rated TripAdvisor hotels on an interactive map. They can also read TripAdvisor review summaries, access details about hotels, including images and amenities, and refine results with conversational follow-ups.

Once a would-be traveler selects a hotel, they’ll see available deals from booking sites. When they choose one, they will be redirected to TripAdvisor or one of its partners to complete the booking.

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The new app is available to logged-in ChatGPT users in the US on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans. You can start using it by opening ChatGPT, navigating to Settings, then Apps & Connectors, and Browse Apps and connect to TripAdvisor. (You should only have to follow these steps once.) Then, and on subsequent visits, simply start your message in ChatGPT with the word TripAdvisor.

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Technologies

Group Chats With ChatGPT Are Rolling Out Globally

OpenAI wants you to collaborate with its chatbot in a group setting.

Last week, OpenAI — always looking for opportunities to put its chatbot into new spaces — introduced Group Chats with ChatGPT baked right in. Based on early feedback, it’s now expanding the feature to all logged-in users on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans globally over the coming days.

The feature is pitched as a new way to use ChatGPT with other people, especially in collaboration efforts, like planning a big event.

Up to 20 people can be added to a group chat, and messages between individuals don’t count against the rate limit to ChatGPT — only when it responds.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Group chats use ChatGPT-5.1 Auto. OpenAI has also introduced some new implementations of how and when the chatbot responds. It’s been taught new social behaviors for group chats and will apparently follow the flow of the conversation and stay quiet or chime in based on what’s being said.

Adding «ChatGPT» to a message you send will always yield a response from the AI chatbot. You can also provide custom instructions to ChatGPT for the entire chat if you want it to reply in a certain tone or personality, and it can react to messages with emoji.

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Group Chats don’t use memory from your existing personal chats, and new memory isn’t created from group conversations, though OpenAI says it’s exploring a way for you to opt in to use existing memory in the future.

If you’re concerned that you’ll be thrown into a dozen chats without your permission, then you’ll likely be happy to hear that you must accept an invitation before you can be added to a group chat with ChatGPT. Additional safeguards are also in place for users under the age of 18, which will reduce sensitive content to all within the group chat.

OpenAI says Group Chats are the beginning of its effort to make ChatGPT more of a shared and collaborative space for people.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 21, #424

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 21, No. 424.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. If you know a Gen Z person, you might be familiar with their favorite nonsense phrase, «6-7.» The puzzle editors throw a 6 and a 7 into the puzzle today just to see if we’re paying attention. Do the numbers end up in the same group? I bet you know the answer to that one. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Football score.

Blue group hint: Colorado QB.

Purple group hint: Not small.