Music and technology have evolved side by side for centuries. From the earliest bone flutes and stringed instruments to the phonograph, synthesizers and streaming platforms, each technological shift has changed how music is created, performed and shared while preserving its role as one of humanity's most powerful forms of expression.
Today, however, artificial intelligence is testing that relationship in an entirely new way.
Listeners may now unknowingly press play on songs created not by musicians drawing on lived experience and emotion, but by algorithms.
AI-generated artists such as Breaking Rust, Velvet Sundown and Cain Walker produce songs that can be difficult to distinguish from those made by human musicians. A 2025 joint survey by Deezer and Ipsos found that 97% of more than 9,000 respondents across eight countries failed to correctly identify AI-generated music.
French music streaming platform Deezer recently announced that AI-generated uploads surpassed half of all its new daily music deliveries for the first time, averaging around 90,000 tracks a day since introducing its AI detection tool in January 2025.
The announcement has raised broader questions about the scale of AI-generated music across the streaming industry and what its rapid rise could mean for artists.
