This article is a personal testimonial of how I use AI to explore the world around me. I hope it provides an interesting read if not an idea for you to explore further into background noises and how they affect our brain. I had not considered using AI for sleep aid before, but I found this to be very helpful.
One night, I’m trying to fall asleep and my brain is racing. This used to be an issue when I was younger but have found as I got older, I am able to fall asleep faster. One of our friends uses a white noise machine to fall asleep and I could tell my brain was craving a distraction. I opened up the ChatGPT app on my phone and asked it
What are the different type of noise for falling asleep like white noise, brown noise, etc.?
To which it responded the below. After this description I’ll talk about which one I chose and how it helped.
AI for Sleep Aid – What are Noise Colors?
Different types of noise can be used for falling asleep or promoting relaxation. These are categorized based on their frequency distributions and how they sound to the human ear:
1. White Noise
- Description: Contains all audible frequencies played at equal intensity.
- Sound: A constant, static-like hum (e.g., TV static or a fan).
- Use: Blocks external sounds, helping with focus and sleep for light sleepers or in noisy environments.
2. Pink Noise
- Description: Similar to white noise but with less intensity at higher frequencies, resulting in a balanced sound.
- Sound: Softer and more natural, like rainfall or wind rustling through trees.
- Use: Promotes deep sleep by mimicking natural environmental sounds.
3. Brown Noise (or Red Noise)
- Description: Deeper than pink noise, with more energy in lower frequencies and less in higher ones.
- Sound: A deep, rumbling sound, like a strong waterfall or distant thunder.
- Use: Ideal for relaxation, anxiety relief, and sleep, particularly for those who find white noise too harsh.
4. Blue Noise
- Description: Opposite of brown noise, with more energy in higher frequencies.
- Sound: A high-pitched hiss or whirring sound.
- Use: Less common for sleep; may be used for sound therapy or tinnitus masking.
5. Violet Noise (or Purple Noise)
- Description: Similar to blue noise but with even greater emphasis on high frequencies.
- Sound: Sharper and hiss-like, resembling the sound of a boiling kettle.
- Use: Rarely used for sleep; primarily for sound therapy.
6. Gray Noise
- Description: Adjusted to sound equally loud across all frequencies to the human ear.
- Sound: A balanced, smooth sound that doesn’t emphasize any particular frequency.
- Use: Helps mask distracting sounds effectively.
7. Green Noise
- Description: A subset of white noise focused on frequencies found in nature.
- Sound: Ocean waves or calm river sounds.
- Use: Calming and soothing, making it ideal for relaxation and meditation.
Which Noise Should You Choose?
- Light sleepers or noise masking: White or pink noise.
- Relaxation and deep sleep: Pink or brown noise.
- Preference for natural sounds: Green noise.
- Tinnitus relief: Blue or violet noise.
Experimenting with different types can help determine what works best for your sleep needs.
So for me I know two things knock me out and help me sleep better – Thunderstorms and Riding in a Car when I was younger. I asked ChatGPT to describe what type of noise both of those activities classify. Thunderstorms can be either pink or brown noise. Apparently riding in a car is a brown noise.
I fired up a YouTube or Amazon Music track with brown noise and it did the trick. It took my subconscious to a calm place and gave it something to focus on instead of bothering me while I am trying to sleep.
I hope you can find a noise that brings you back to a calm time in your life or provides a deep relaxation. This is just a real-life idea for how AI can enrich our lives, and I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
As a side note – I tried several AI tools to generate this image – ChatGPT/Dall E, I googled free ones which weren’t bad. I tried versions on Canva. They all struggled with the concept but surprisingly Meta AI was the best and was used for this image. May you use AI to explore this idea if you haven’t already. I’d love to hear what your happy place and noise is, it’s very interesting to understand how our brains work. Sweet dreams!