Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A “Mississippi-made soul singer” named Solomon Ray has stormed to No. 1 on gospel charts—only to be quickly exposed as a fully AI-generated phantom, sparking outrage from Christian artists who decry the “spiritless” impostor as a crutch robbing music of divine inspiration. 

Ray’s ascent—hitting No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard gospel charts—prompted swift backlash from flesh-and-blood artists. 

Christian music artist Forrest Frank lamented, “At minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it. So I think that’s really weird to be opening up your spirit to something that has no spirit.” 

Singer-songwriter Phil Wickham echoed the peril, “It’s difficult to envision a future where we look back and think creating AI was a net positive for our world. At most it should be a tool for humans, not a replacement for them.” 

Singer Colton Dixon urged “I’m honestly still wrestling with the whole AI music thing. Can it be a tool to speed up a rather long tedious process – yes. But can it also be used as a crutch instead of finding inspiration and direction from Holy Spirit – also yes. I’m believing God will be magnified regardless.”

As we’ve previously detailed, this gospel ghost isn’t isolated, rather it is a symptom of AI’s broader sonic siege. 

Streaming service Deezer conducted a recent poll where respondents heard two AI tracks and one human made song, with a whopping 97% failing to spot the fakes.

The findings underscore how machine-made melodies are infiltrating genres like gospel, threatening to relegate authentic expression to an algorithmic afterthought.

The vast majority of respondents to the survey also said they want to see AI music clearly labelled or even prevented from appearing on streaming platforms.

CEO Alexis Lanternier noted “The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human made tracks or not.” 

Deezer’s data reveals the AI creep. In January, one in ten daily streams was fully AI; by October, one in three—about 40,000 tracks daily. 

Ray’s phantom hit mirrors the AI country anthem “Walk My Walk” by fabricated Breaking Rust, topping Billboard’s Country Digital Sales, credited to enigmatic ‘artist’ Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, amassing 1.6 million streams.

These incursions span genres, often cloaked in anonymity, their origins as opaque as the algorithms birthing them. If unchecked, we risk a future where most music isn’t human-made.

Music, once a direct expression of human experience and skill built over years of practice, risks relegation to a series of droll Clichéd prompts.

Veterans like Randy Travis and Martina McBride have decried unauthorized AI voices, and hundreds of musicians from Billie Eilish to Stevie Wonder have urged tech curbs on human-replacing tools.

Ray’s soulful facade, AI crooning gospel hymns, strikes at a sacred core. Creative work thrives on authenticity, emotion, the slow, often messy process, rather than AI’s speed and convenience.

Replacing years of practice honing a creative skill with AI doesn’t merely threaten livelihoods; it risks diminishing what makes art matter.

We’re outsourcing culture to machines and without transparency, we are surely soon to be trapped in a world where everything seems real, but very little actually is.

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