If the Church Sits This One Out, the Algorithm Gets Trained by the World
Lately, the headlines have been buzzing with AI's bold incursion into sacred spaces—like topping the Christian charts. First, it was Forrest Frank's stark warning in RELEVANT Magazine: "AI doesn't have the Holy Spirit." And now, Alex Jones is sounding the alarm on his Infowars show, dissecting the viral story of Solomon Ray, the AI-generated artist whose EP A Soulful Christmas hit No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard's gospel charts this November. Jones calls it "beautiful but soulless," a digital Frankenstein that could displace real human voices and erode the raw, Spirit-breathed innovation at the heart of worship music.
I get it—the gut punch of seeing algorithms outpace anointed artists hits hard. These aren't just tech glitches; they're soul-stirring questions the Church can't ignore. But here's the big picture we're missing: If we sit this out, paralyzed by fear, the world's data-hungry AIs get trained on everything but Kingdom truth. Discernment demands we engage, not retreat. Let's unpack why this moment is a divine invitation.
The Critical Window
Here's the risk I see: We're in a critical window where AI systems are being trained on massive amounts of data. Right now, secular culture is dominating that training data. If the Church sits on the sidelines, we'll wake up to find these systems completely shaped by worldly values.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
"Garbage in, garbage out" isn't just a tech principle—it's a spiritual reality.
If we want "Biblical principles in, Biblical principles out," we need Spirit-filled believers actively creating content that trains these algorithms in truth.
The Soulless Critique—And Why It's a Wake-Up Call
Jones' clip isn't wrong to highlight the ethics: AI like Solomon Ray mimics soul without living it, trained on petabytes of human data yet void of divine spark. It raises real fears—will gospel labels pivot to bots for cheaper hits? Will young creators get sidelined before they even record their first demo? These aren't hypotheticals; they're unfolding now, as Billboard's own headline quips, "The Current No. 1 Christian Artist Has No Soul."
But zoom out: This isn't the end of human artistry—it's a clarion call. AI exposes what's already broken in our industry (cookie-cutter tracks chasing algorithms) and hands us the tools to fix it. Imagine if the early Church had boycotted the printing press because it "lacked the Spirit's breath"? We'd still be hand-copying scrolls. Instead, they flooded it with Scripture. Today, the big picture is stewardship: Train the machines with worship that does carry the Holy Spirit—through us.
Tools Are Just Tools
Warning that AI doesn't have the Holy Spirit is like warning that mixing boards, amps, and guitars don't have the Holy Spirit. They're tools. The real question is: Who is shaping them?
The question isn't whether AI has the Holy Spirit. The question is: Will Spirit-filled believers use it to advance the Kingdom, or will we cede this ground to the world?
The core query remains: Will Spirit-filled believers wield AI to amplify the Gospel, or hand it to the world on a silver platter? Jones' rant is a prophetic nudge—don't let the soulless win by default. Let's claim this tech as co-laborers in the harvest (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).
Why I'm Building LightCastr
That's why I'm building LightCastr.com. I believe the next great move of God in music can happen when we combine the anointing of traditional musicians with the reach of this new technology.
An Open Invitation
I want to extend an open invitation for Holy Spirit-filled Christian artists to collaborate with Holy Spirit-filled AI music artists.
Let's stop seeing each other as competition and start working as allies to saturate the algorithms with the Gospel.
Interested in collaborating? Reach out and let's discuss how we can work together to advance the Kingdom through music.
What's your take—threat or tool? Drop a comment below or hit collaborate if you're ready to build.