Harmony For The Mind: AI-Powered Music Curation For Mental Well-Being

Abstract

This is an exploratory research conducted to delve into the potential of Artificial Intelligence in its assistance in the world of music and mental well-being. Music is known to possess a great deal of power in shaping a person's mood, there has been empirical data substantiating the apparent relation of such, and unsurprisingly so, has its place in sound therapy and healing. Often, humans struggle with not finding the right music at the right time that renders the flavors that their emotional palette is consciously or unconsciously starving for. Spotify and other music apps have the technology to curate playlists according to the user's past music consumption. This research aims to conceptualize the extension with the use of AI, which can be integrated with PPG (Photoplethysmography) technology and can be used to detect the immediate emotional state of the person to accordingly curate a suitable music that perfectly amalgamates the user's music preference and the type of music the current emotional state demands of. Thus serving to elevate or give emotional relief to the person, enhancing the listening experience, and further instigating a healthy emotional balance of the mind in the long run. This would require AI to be able to detect and categorize music based on musical complexities: frequencies, beats, scales, melodic patterns, and collective rhythms. To achieve this, AI will have to compute and decipher music and its nuances like a human sound engineer. This study aims to evaluate the degree to which this can contribute to ameliorating anxiety emerging in this generation and maintaining mental well-being.