AI and Christian Music
So how are you feeling about your new opportunity to play Christian AI music from AI “Artists” on your station? I use quotation marks because AI models aren’t people. And that’s probably a useful place to start—differentiating between Holy Spirit-filled image-bearers of God doing spiritual work, and flawed, man-made tools that are available for believers to use.
All through the Bible, God primarily uses people, to reach people (Matt. 28:16-20). But … not always. He can use anything he wants—and He often does—which is why teasing out what’s essentially human about Christian music is deep waters.
All we can do is just notice some basics—that human relationships require authentic human community and relational connections. In a similar way, we can observe that our relationship with God through words and worship is spiritual—a worshipper’s spirit connecting with God’s Spirit (John 4:23-24). And because the fundamental work that we’re doing in sharing Christian music with others is both human and spiritual, at our organization we choose not to play AI Christian music from AI “Artists” and we also don’t have any plans to use AI “Talent” to host content. That decision means choosing not to substitute things that are non-human and non-spiritual for things that are human and spiritual.
We will play music that to the best of our knowledge, has been created by human, Christian music artists who are following the guidance of the Holy Spirit in obedience (John 16:13), and who choose to use (or not use) AI as a tool that serves their art. Likewise, we may use AI tools for limited and defined purposes to assist our employees with their work. But we don’t think it’s wise to completely outsource or wholly entrust spiritual work done through regenerate believers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to a flawed, man-made creation trained on flawed data.
I’d like to put a few things on the table for you to consider, as you think about AI Christian music. But not from a place of having all the answers. My thinking is continually being challenged. For example, maybe it’s a worshipper’s heart that really matters—not where a song comes from. Is that true? How about this—does something have to be produced entirely by a human in order to be Spirit-inspired? And haven’t Christians been taking creative inputs from non-Christian culture for centuries (here’s looking at all of us in CCM world, often borrowing creative inspiration from non-Christian sources)? This is a time to think critically, not a time to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
God will give us the answers that we need as we look to Him. And as you think these things through, you might consider some of these ideas.
AI IS A TOOL NOT A SUBSTITUTE
AI is a tool available to believers who are submitted to the Holy Spirit, but it’s an inadequate substitute for believers who are submitted to the Holy Spirit.
Throughout history, people have used musical tools, lived experiences, emotions, and all the other human things, for the purpose of musical inspiration. Today, humans have the ability to essentially use AI as a substitute for inspiration.
The word inspiration means “to breathe into”. Christian creatives have the opportunity to receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit—to let God breathe into them. And likewise, Christians have the opportunity to breathe creatively into their own work. Or, they can choose to give something that has no breath—no divinely-given inspiration (only a learning algorithm making inferences)—the opportunity to create their work for them. To mimic.
GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT
AI is only as good as the data that it’s trained on. And since humanity’s defaults aren’t biblical, AI trained on non-Christian assumptions has a good chance of being disconnected from the truth of the gospel.
AI itself is a soul-less, conscience-less machine that ultimately relies on our inputs for its outputs.
Believers on the other hand, are given the Holy Spirit when we believe (Eph 1:13, 1 Cor 12:13). And the Holy Spirit reveals truth to believers, that did not come from us.
SUPERNATURAL
The Holy Spirit is also our Helper and Counselor. And in profound ways that we can’t even articulate or even fully see, God is working through imperfect humans. (Rom. 10:14-15, 2 Cor. 5:18-20, Acts 1:8, 1 Thess. 2:4). His strength is made perfect through human weakness (2 Cor. 12:9, Jer. 17:5-7). So, humans creating things for a spiritual purpose, in communion with the Holy Spirit, is not just something natural, to be delegated. It’s supernatural.
OUR STORIES MATTER
We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:11).
AI has no testimony. AI models can’t truthfully tell a personal story of how Jesus redeemed them, forgave their sin, and brought them back from spiritual death to spiritual life (2 Cor. 4:7).
There is also immense value in sharing real-life, embodied experiences. Deep human emotions and struggles are used by God to draw people to Himself.
Brandon Lake said it this way on social media … “It takes THE JOURNEY out of making music. The journey, the sweat and tears, is what makes you respect and appreciate the product. I think there’s a difference between using it as a tool and using it to make a complete body of work. Still trying to figure out how I feel about it but struggling big time. There’s a reason why God made carrying a child 9 months long. You care more about something when you watch it grow, evolve, and invest everything you are to it. Massive shortcuts to anything are a downfall to humanity. I haven’t met one person who’s listened to those AI songs that genuinely thought they were amazing. “Is this real” is the scariest and saddest question we all have to ask right now.”
IMAGE BEARERS POINT BACK TO THEIR CREATOR
All human beings bear the image of God, their Creator (Gen. 1:26-27).
AI models created through human ingenuity are remarkable tools, but as things produced by fallen humans, they bear the flawed image of their creator (Gen. 4:11).
“WHAT EXACTLY WOULD YOU SAY YOU DO HERE?”
As a Holy Spirit-filled Christian music artist or a Christian radio professional, why would fully delegating your calling to create God-glorifying art and media to AI, be your “first and best” option? The spiritual gifts and the role that God’s given you—what exactly do you think that he equipped you and only you, to do?
I don’t have the theology all figured out, but I’m challenged by the words of 2 Corinthians 4 to not be found using the world’s tools in place of God’s tools.
CHRISTIAN MUSIC HAS PURPOSE
What is the purpose of a Christian song? Among other things, Christian songs contain things like lyrics, emotions, personal experiences, musicality, and spiritual connection—created under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christian art exists to glorify God and move the human heart toward Him.
Do AI Christian songs meet that definition? Should they?
MUSIC IS MADE IN COMMUNITY
Communication is the act of making something common (i.e. sharing something from the heart or mind with someone else). Community is the state of being common together (i.e. a group sharing a common life or interest).
Music carries meaning (communication) from one human heart to another. Because that’s true, music brings people into communion with each other. And music itself is made and shared in community, in the case of Christian music, a spiritual communion.
If that’s your way of thinking, then AI likely lacks all of the prerequisites needed for making authentic Christian music. It’s not human or alive. It has no thought life or spiritual capacity. It’s not “in community” with humans in the way that humans commune together. And it has no shared life experiences to be communicated.
WE HAVE A JOB
AI falls short in making Christian music, in the same way that my gardening hand shovel falls short in its ability to envision and then take care, of my entire garden. It does a great job of digging holes with my “input”, but even if it could do the watering, weeding, fertilizing and everything else needed to care for the whole garden, I still don’t think I’d ask it to. It’s just a tool that’s really good at a specific job. And just like the first garden that God entrusted to the first humans, I somehow know innately that nurturing the garden is my job.
