From Daily Song to Daily Self: Supporting Reflective Songwriting of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals through Generative Music AI

TL;DR

This paper presents SoulNote, a generative AI system that supports Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals in sustained, multi-session songwriting to foster emotional growth and self-reflection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, user-centered AI tool for extended songwriting that enhances emotional insight and self-care among DHH users, addressing prior single-session limitations.

Findings

Ongoing songwriting with SoulNote facilitated emotional growth.

Users experienced increased self-insight and emotion regulation.

The system supported sustained engagement over multiple sessions.

Abstract

The rapid advancement of generative AI (GenAI) is expanding access to songwriting, offering a new medium of self-expression for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) individuals. However, emerging technologies that support DHH individuals in expressing themselves through music have largely been evaluated in single-session settings and often fall short in helping users unfamiliar with songwriting convey personal narratives or sustain engagement over time. This paper explores songwriting as an extended, music-based journaling practice that supports sustained emotional reflection over multiple sessions. We introduce SoulNote, a GenAI system enabling DHH to engage in iterative songwriting. Grounded in user-centered design, including a design workshop, a preliminary study, and a multi-session diary study, our findings show that ongoing songwriting with \textit{SoulNote} facilitated emotional growth across three dimensions: self-insight, emotion regulation, and \revised{everyday attitudes toward emotions and self-care}. Overall, this work demonstrates how GenAI can support marginalized communities by transforming creative expression into a daily practice of self-discovery and reflection.