Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over our digital wasteland as we know it. From AI-generated cat memes you laugh at and share, identifying what is AI-generated or human made is becoming more difficult. An attack on media literacy and on creators all over the world.

AI-generated music and artists has been on a rise, even reaching ranks in the U.S. Billboard charts. Scrolling through your social media feed, you unwillingly interact with AI-generated music. How else could you know the difference? According to a survey by Reuters, 97% of users are unable to detect AI-generated music. Something that seems so innocent, carries a weight of an entire industry of creatives, putting who consume it and those who create at risk.

The spread of AI-generated music comes from the lack of restrictions and policies limiting it. Different tools are made available for people to create their own AI personas or AI-generated music. They use softwares to turn their lyrics into songs and publish them under a fake artist. AI-generated music falls into a liminal space with copyright that is still trying to be figured out today.

Whether or not AI-generated music should be more regulated or not brings out ethical questions where people tend to align differently. Some argue that if you feel connected to a certain song or an artist, why would it matter if it’s fully AI-generated. Others want to combat the spread of AI-generated music, calling for streaming platforms to identify what’s AI-generated or not. They want to be able to make their own decisions about what they are listening to.

Though both sides feel differently about the impact of AI-generated music in the music industry, we are already seeing a rise in AI-generated music and artists. AI R&B artist Xania Monet is one of many artists who has already topped charts. Monet has charted on U.S. Billboard and has accumulated seventeen million streams in two months. Created by a 31-year-old Mississippi native, Talisha Jones, using the platform Suno. Suno is an AI-powered music generator platform that allows users to take lyrics and convert them into songs. In September, Monet signed a record deal worth up to $3 million with Hallwood Media.

Although people feel differently about AI-generated music, having the choice in what to listen to is primal. Different media outlets have been suggesting different solutions to being able to identify what is human made or not. A recent Time magazine article suggests that if AI-generated music were to rank on Billboard charts, that they should be able to rank in their own specific category identifying them as AI-generated.

A radio giant, iHeartMedia, now requires DJs to announce “Guaranteed Human” on-air certifying that the content is not AI-generated. Lainie Fertick, president of Insights at iHeartMedia, in a blog post talks about the importance of human trust, a thing that AI cannot replicate.

“Consumers trust real voices,” said Fertick in his post. “Our research shows 80% of iHeart listeners consider our hosts their friends, and 78% trust their product recommendation. Even more telling: 9 in 10 say human trust can’t be replicated with AI.”

In order to continue to have the trust of their listeners, iHeartMedia decided to put the announcement on-air. This is just one example on a handful of streaming services and media outlets that are making an attempt to combat AI-generated music.

As different streaming services and media outlets are attempting to combat AI-generated music with different policies, as listeners there are ways we can also identify what’s human made or not. We can look to see if our favorite bands/artists have any live performances, active social media or look out for the way their vocals sound on the songs. If it sounds “too perfect” or you hear “ghost harmonies” that seem to be coming and going during a song. A simple search for the artist/band can help us identify what is authentically human or not. Making an attempt to identify what you’re listening t o gives us power against AI-generated music.

In a time where AI is taking over different parts of our society, it can become difficult to be able to identify what’s real or what isn’t. Especially when listening to music on the radio or on your phone, there’s not a lot of ways to identify what’s real. What we can do is advocate for your streaming service platforms to have stronger policies against AI-generated music. This gives listeners the choice if they want to listen to AI-generated music or not. As listeners, we should also make an attempt to do our own research in what we’re listening to. It gives us back the control on what we consume in our daily lives instead of what is fed to us. Although some artists use AI as a tool and not to completely create full productions and lyrics, being transparent about the role of AI in their music is important to us as listeners. AI-generated music shouldn’t be in a liminal space where copyright laws aren’t as strict with them, they should be under the same regulations that human musicians have. The human experience is to create and share our art. It’s about trust and shared experiences, something AI could never recreate.