The creative potential of many musical activities, such as music generation and style alteration, has increased due to the rapid emergence of musical AI technology. However, the potential benefits of musical AIs for music therapists, who sorely require additional technological help, have not been thoroughly studied. The research titled “Understanding Human-AI Collaboration in Music Therapy Through Co-Design with Therapists” dives deep into the significance of AI in music therapy. The research employed a mixed methodology that combined participatory design with semi-structured interviews.  

By working with music therapists, the researchers investigated design possibilities for musical AIs in music therapy. They discussed the co-design results of incorporating musical AIs into a music therapy procedure, which originated from an emotion-focused treatment theoretical framework. The advantages and worries of music AIs from the standpoint of music therapists concluded the study.  

What is music therapy? 

A range of musical activities, including singing, playing instruments, composing music, and listening to music, are used in music therapy, an organized and scientifically supported clinical practice, to help clients with their mental health issues. Licensed music therapists lead and conduct treatment sessions with the primary goal of helping their clients achieve specific therapeutic objectives in a client-centred approach. Previous studies on music therapy have shown that it can be an effective adjuvant treatment or help individuals feel less depressed while treating physical illnesses. It can be used in cancer treatment, prenatal medicine, rehabilitation training, hospice care, and other geriatric medicine. It can also be utilized to solve mental problems and relieve anxiety and despair. 

AI in music therapy 

The field of Artificial Intelligence has given rise to a new body of study on integrating “musical AIs,” or AI-related musical activities, into music therapy. According to earlier studies, musical AIs have the potential to increase therapy diversity and efficiency while also meeting the needs of music therapists and advancing technical techniques. Present-day musical AIs are capable of defining instrument combinations and producing music in particular musical genres.  

It is also possible for deep learning algorithms to produce tunes that elicit particular feelings. Other AI-based musical tasks, such as tone transfer, harmonization, style transfer, and emotion-based music generation, are also emerging, beyond simple melody composition. These technological advancements may enhance the efficacy of music therapy.  

Potential benefits of musical AIs in music therapy 

Boost therapy effectiveness: According to participants, musical AI can help music therapists create and carry out music-related tasks more effectively. It can also simulate musical instruments in situations when they are not available or practicable.  

Enhance music therapy content: According to participants, musical AIs could increase the repertoire of songs that music therapists can utilize in their treatments. These methods might increase the variety of music available, encourage therapists to compose music, and make it easier to perform instruments or genres that aren’t commonly used.  

Allow for more individualized content for treatment: Personalized music therapy treatment can be complex and demanding because of individual differences and emotional complexity [4]. One of the main goals for music therapists is to appropriately describe and comprehend their clients’ feelings because this enhances the quality of treatment.  

Boost client engagement: According to definitions, engagement consists of behavioural, emotional, and cognitive elements. Emotional engagement is concerned with the person’s sentiments and emotions, behavioural engagement is with the actual action, and cognitive engagement is with the level of focus and involvement during activity participation. The study shows musical AIs improve customer engagement in these three ways. 

Despite the advantages of musical AIs, therapists may need to learn new skills in order to operate new software or electrical equipment and alter their original workflow when integrating AI technology into music therapy. The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community is aware of how challenging it may be to develop human-AI interaction and collaboration. The majority of the early research on musical AIs examined the possibilities for fusing music and technology from the perspective of the algorithm due to the output complexity and capability uncertainty of AI.  

Though research on musical AI is still in its infancy, it is essential to know what music therapists think about today’s methods and how these technologies might be used or integrated into music therapy.  

• https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.14503
• Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash