Popular Christian artist Forrest Frank is warning his followers that the top-performing Christian artist on the iTunes charts was created by artificial intelligence, expressing concerns about the implications of this development because “AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it.” 

In an Instagram video published Wednesday, Frank informed his followers that “the No. 1 album right now for Christian music on iTunes and the No. 2 top singles over Elevation, Brandon Lake, whoever is AI.” The term “AI” stands for artificial intelligence, meaning the music was not produced by humans. 

While Frank did not explicitly name the AI artist at the top of the iTunes charts, screenshots included in the video identified the top Christian album as Faithful Soul by Solomon Ray, while “Find Your Rest” and “Goodbye Temptation” by Ray are the top two Christian songs on iTunes. Ray is an AI persona created by Mississippi-based artist Christopher Jermaine Townsend, who is known by the stage name Topher. 

“I hate to even bring attention to this, but I want to just let you guys know this is out there, and I think it’s important that we just pause a little bit and kind of ask the questions of like, ‘is it something that we want?’” he added. “At a 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.”

“I personally will not be listening to this,” he added. “I already don’t listen to secular music, and I’m sure not going to be listening to AI Christian music.”

The singer elaborated on his concerns in the video's caption.

“I love progress & tools, but this one just doesn’t sit right!” he wrote. 

On-screen text in the video shows Frank saying, “It could just disappear,” referring to AI.

Ray’s Instagram page, which explicitly identifies the musician as an “AI voice” while indicating that the performer has taken on a persona as an African American man from Mississippi, includes a post identifying the artist’s place at the top of the iTunes charts for both songs and albums as “A FIRST FOR ANY AI ARTIST OF ANY GENRE.”

The social media post states: “Solomon Ray is no longer ‘the AI experiment.’ He is now the biggest new voice in gospel music — period. The future arrived faster than anyone expected. And his name is Solomon Ray. (All in under 21 days.)” 

As of Thursday afternoon, “Find Your Rest” and “Goodbye Temptation” still claim the top two spots on iTunes’ Top 40 US Christian & Gospel songs. Two additional songs by Ray, “Jesus and My Coffee” and “I Got Faith,” are also included on the list, meaning that 10% of the songs included on the Top 40 are from an artist created by AI. 

Ray’s Faithful Soul is still the top album on iTunes’ Top 40 Christian & Gospel albums as of Thursday afternoon. Faithful Soul is the only one of Ray’s albums included in the Top 40. 

Created just over three weeks ago on Oct. 28, Ray’s YouTube channel has over 12,000 subscribers and more than 1 million views. A total of four albums featuring songs compiled by Ray, including Faithful Soul, are available on YouTube. Ray is not to be confused with the rapper of the same name. 

Townsend responded to Frank's video on Wednesday with an Instagram video, thanking Frank for his post and opening a discussion about the use of AI in Christian music. 

"Nothing is morally or immorally right or wrong at this point," Townsend said. "No one is pulling out Scripture to ban it. It is really more of a preference. You cannot tell somebody's feelings and impact from music if it's authentic or fake [or] fraudulent."

"Who am I to say what God will or won't use to get the message His people need to them," he added. "I am just here being an instrument, and this is an extension of my creativity. So, therefore, to me, it's art. It's definitely inspired by a Christian, and it may not be performed by one and I am not sure why that really matters in the end." 

Ray’s success in the music industry comes at a time when AI is gaining broader acceptance in society.

A new poll released Wednesday of 1,496 likely voters between the ages of 18 and 39, conducted by The Heartland Institute’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center and Rasmussen Reports, found that 41% of respondents favored giving “an advanced AI system authority to control public policymaking decisions.” 

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/forrest-frank-speaks-out-as-ai-artist-nabs-top-christian-album.html