Exploring the Collaborative Co-Creation Process with AI: A Case Study in Novice Music Production

2025-01-25

AI Summary

This study investigates novice experiences and challenges in AI-augmented music creation, focusing on creative ideation, human-AI task division, and iterative refinement. Method: A 10-week empirical study engaged nine undergraduate students who employed AI music generation tools (Suno, Udio) to compose, produce, and release three original tracks on Spotify, with full process tracing via logs, interviews, and artifact analysis. Contribution/Results: The study proposes two novel theoretical models—the Human-AI Co-Creation Stage Model and the Agency Model—identifying “collage-and-refinement” as a previously uncharacterized stage. Findings reveal that while AI accelerates divergent ideation, it compresses preparatory activities and intensifies cognitive load during creative filtering and validation. The resulting reusable collaborative framework offers empirically grounded design principles and pedagogical implications for integrating generative AI into creative education.

Technology Category

Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & StorytellingCognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Computational CreativityPhilosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence

Application Category

Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic ramifications for generative AI infrastructure and applicationsResponsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomySemantics and Knowledge: Methods to enhance, augment, integrate or synergize semantic models such as knowledge graphs and LLMs

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is reshaping creative domains, yet its co-creative processes, especially in group settings with novice users, remain under explored. To bridge this gap, we conducted a case study in a college-level course where nine undergraduate students were tasked with creating three original music tracks using AI tools over 10 weeks. The study spanned the entire creative journey from ideation to releasing these songs on Spotify. Participants leveraged AI for music and lyric production, cover art, and distribution. Our findings highlight how AI transforms creative workflows: accelerating ideation but compressing the traditional preparation stage, and requiring novices to navigate a challenging idea selection and validation phase. We also identified a new"collaging and refinement"stage, where participants creatively combined diverse AI-generated outputs into cohesive works. Furthermore, AI influenced group social dynamics and role division among human creators. Based on these insights, we propose the Human-AI Co-Creation Stage Model and the Human-AI Agency Model, offering new perspectives on collaborative co-creation with AI.

Problem

• AI-assisted music composition
• beginner's experience
• creative collaboration challenges

Innovation

• AI-assisted music creation
• collaborative human-AI workflow
• creative patchwork refinement