AI is becoming more and more prominent in the creation of music these days. Increasingly, even former skeptics are coming around to the idea that algorithms can come up with beautiful music just as efficiently as people can. But does this apply to all genres of music? What about something like horror soundtracks? The ability to strike fear into people effectively is very specific, of course, and requires particular techniques.

Expert opinion appears to be mixed. While you might find a music creator that does an amazing job coming up with certain elements of horror-inducing music, most people believe that there should be some degree of human input involved. To make an assessment yourself check out an online music creator and see what you think of it. There's no better test than trying it out for yourself. Now, let’s take a closer look at what all is involved in the fascinating world of scary music creation.

A multi-faceted endeavor
The short answer to the question of whether AI can outmatch its human counterparts in the creation of horror soundtracks is that it can be vastly superior in certain aspects of music creation. But people should always be standing by, ready to step in, as ultimately the difference between something brilliantly terrifying and a close-but-no-cigar digital attempt can be smelled easily. And you don't want to take the risk of falling into this category.

Where AI excels in music production
Research shows that algorithms can be extremely good at creating fear-inducing music. In fact, studies show that AI-created music can elicit stronger physiological responses than human-composed music can. This is how it’s done:

 ● Algorithms are very good at replicating nonlinear elements and dissonance in music. These are the kinds of things that strike fear into people. Things like irregular, harsh sounds, and what you might call “scream-like” music can easily be created by putting prompts into an AI program.
 ● AI tools can come up with high-quality tracks that are specific to particular genres almost instantly. If you tell a program to produce heavy bass, for example, or “screaming violins,” the program will immediately produce a result that creates tension among listeners.
 ● AI programs are extremely good at pattern recognition. Horror tracks include specific features that are immediately recognizable, and algorithms are super proficient at recognizing and analyzing these features. Consequently, the mathematics of “scary music” can easily be reproduced in many programs.
 ● “Inharmonicity.” One particular feature that AI programs can produce easily is known as “inharmonicity.” This refers to tones that clash continuously and never “resolve” in the way that other music does. And related features such as non-linear elements (e.g. the roughness of human screams) can be replicated with remarkable accuracy.

The proof is in the pudding: studies have actually measured things like pupil dilation among listeners and shown that AI-generated music creates more dramatic responses than human-made music does.

The case for human production
There is still something to be said for human involvement in the creation of horror music. Although AI can accomplish great things, we shouldn't neglect the fact that people are the ones who created music in the first place. Research shows that certain nuances still require a human touch for music to be truly effective.

This includes the following elements:

 ● Intentional subtlety. People often cite the movie Psycho as being one of the scariest of all time (most of us weren’t around when it first came out, but women were afraid to go in the shower for months). One of the reasons this movie was considered so effective at terrifying people is because of the timing of the scare chords with what was happening in the movie. This is something that AI might miss.
 ● Emotional depth. People are better at understanding things like the intentionality of scary music. We all remember The Shining and how the music struck fear into our hearts. This is because the creators had an acute awareness of how the music fit the plot of the film. Human-created music often includes more subtlety in the creation of “haunting” sounds, and ones that match their corresponding plots.
 ● The soul of a soundtrack. A related point is that of the “soul” of a soundtrack. Regardless of whether they are for horror or other types of films, soundtracks need to create an authentic connection with listeners. While AI can be extremely proficient in producing immediate responses in people with certain types of sounds, it is less proficient at coming up with whole pieces that really resonate and stay with their listeners.
 ● Context. Human composers can create a lot of subtle changes that are based off of the context of a soundtrack. Sometimes moments of silence are called for to create additional suspense value, and the way music moves in and out of these moments is something that human understanding is necessary to produce effectively. And while AI can do an amazing job of coming up with the music itself, people should be on hand to help put it all together.

While it hasn’t been very long in the overall scheme of things that AI has been around, experiments conducted in recent years have indicated this need for a balanced approach. AI is getting more and more sophisticated all the time, though, so the future will tell what it can come up with for newer generations.

Programs are well worth it
There are some incredible music programs out there these days, and they are well worth exploring. And while we shouldn’t put all our stock in programs by themselves, the right combination of sophisticated AI tools and human oversight can come up with great things, indeed. And as AI continues to grow in sophistication, it will become yet more proficient at grabbing us by the gut and making our skin crawl and pupils dilate.