INTRODUCTION: Perceptual fluency, defined as the subjective ease with which a stimulus is cognitively processed (Reber et al., 1998), is a predictor of processing effort. Previous research has shown that stimuli with familiar structures are processed with reduced cognitive effort and shorter reaction times (Winkielman & Cacioppo, 2001), though most studies have focused on neutral or positive stimuli.

AIM(S): The present study (N = 31, within-subjects) investigates the role of perceptual fluency in the processing of auditory stimuli with aversive content, using AI-generated musical reinterpretations.

METHOD(S): Participants who declared an aversion to modern fiddle music are exposed to both fragments of the original songs and fragments of the songs in the AI-reinterpreted version of the same songs, in a blues/jazz style. Perceptual fluency is measured as reaction time to lyrics comprehension, message evaluation, and source attribution accuracy (AI vs. human interpreter).

RESULTS: The results show that familiar musical structure, as interpreted by AI, reduces reaction time and leads to more weighted evaluations of the message, even in the presence of aversive semantic content. In addition, the results show a low sensitivity in identifying the source of reinterpretation.

CONCLUSIONS: The results may contribute to the understanding of cognitive mechanisms by which the perceptual structure of the auditory stimulus (rhythm, harmony, timbre) influences the processing of aversive semantic content and to the understanding of literature on the perception of content generated by artificial intelligence.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Self-supported research