Nile Rodgers is standing by his decision to use artificial intelligence in a new music video. The Chic guitarist faced criticism after he shared a preview online. Several viewers questioned his choice to use AI for the project. Rodgers pushed back and explained how his team created the video.
Nile Rodgers insists AI followed his team’s creative direction
Rodgers announced the project publicly on Nov. 2. The video will accompany his charity single “The Christmas Song,” featuring singer Rebecca Ferguson, and he hopes to release it by the end of November. As he prepared the video, he also shared footage of a crew creating what he called “an AI me.” “This AI capture was very thorough and I’m so excited about the finished project,” he wrote.
Rodgers later posted a preview, but many commenters focused on his use of AI. He responded to one critic by calling it “somewhat hypocritical” to oppose AI while using it for convenience. Rodgers pointed to his past work with Microsoft and Apple to explain his familiarity with technology. He also told the commenter, “I respect all opinions,” while defending his decision to use AI.
In another response, Rodgers stated that his creative team was in charge. He explained that they created the mood boards and storyboards before AI followed their instructions. “We painstakingly created every second you’ll see on the screen,” he wrote. He added that a traditional film version would have cost about $100,000.
Rodgers also asked critics to reflect on their use of AI in their daily lives. “Do you use Google, or get driving directions?” he asked. AI has faced wider criticism from people who fear it could take jobs from human creatives and limit artists’ control over copyrighted work. Others have raised concerns about the large amounts of energy and water that data centers need, adding to the debate over AI’s place in creative work.
