AI soundtracks stir stronger emotions than music composed by humans

The new study showed 88 volunteers the same short films while biometric sensors tracked their eyes and skin. After each viewing, participants rated how they felt, and the equipment logged subtle shifts that even they could not sense.

Nikolaj Fišer of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) led the research with colleagues at RTVE in Barcelona and the University of Ljubljana. His team pooled expertise in communication science, media psychology, and audio engineering.

AI tools reshape sound

Generative artificial intelligence tools turn plain language prompts into full songs. Platforms such as Suno and Stable Audio let users specify mood, tempo, and instrumentation, already powering thousands of YouTube reels.

A 2024 market report predicts the AI music segment will top $3 billion by 2028. Analysts tie that growth to advertisers and indie game studios hungry for cheap, custom soundtracks.

The Barcelona team asked whether synthetic tracks do more than fill silence. Their three test conditions paired identical visuals with a traditional cinematic score, an AI track built from a rich prompt, and another AI track based on a bare-bones prompt that only listed emotional values.