Nile Rodgers Defends New AI Music Video

There are a lot of obvious takeaways from this week's midterm elections, and one of them is that Americans are not even remotely into what the tech industry wants to force on us. People are simply not into AI and data centers. This isn't just backward folks primitively resisting an inevitable advancement. It's a full-on rejection, a widespread sense of revulsion. But plenty of long-established artists, even total legends, haven't fully gotten that memo yet. Nile Rodgers is one of them.Rodgers, Chic bandleader and pop mastermind, has been advocating for AI-generated music for at least a few years. In 2023, Rodgers said, "“I hear people talking fake stuff. That sounds like noise to me. That sounds like the noise we've been hearing all our lives... The drum machine and sequencer have been wonderful tools. There are bands that could never have had a record if it wasn't for a sequencer." It's a common argument, but drum machines and sequencers don't make ghastly uncanny-valley nightmares like the one that Rodgers seems to be working on. Earlier this week, Rodgers posted a video of himself getting scanned for what he calls "a #great #art project that’s next #level." He added, "When I saw the Eagles at The Sphere in Vegas I envisioned stories with incredible environments & music. It's future time!"In the comments of that post, someone wrote, "Ai slop is like some kind of magic for old ppl." In response, Rogers commented, "Do you have a problem with CGI? I can't believe you'd go on record without even seeing what I'm doing. Oh well... sending love anyway. Let me know when you see the work if you feel the same way your brain is taking you."We still haven't seen the work, at least in its finished form. Yesterday, however, Rodgers posted a few images from this AI video for his forthcoming benefit single "The Christmas Song." The project seems to be made with the best of intentions, but those pictures look truly hideous. The 74-year-old Rodgers has been very public about his battle with prostate cancer. Rodgers writes that he and UK soul singer Rebecca Ferguson — not the Rebecca Ferguson from Dune and Silo — "did a charity song for children during covid" and that a child coached him through his first bout with cancer: "I know a lot of children who are bedridden and ill. Their main form of entertainment is the iPad or other such devices. I produced 'The Christmas Song' to give them a little #joy during the holiday season." He's rushing the video to have it ready for its Nov. 20 release date.Once again, Rodgers is defending his use of AI in the post's comments. In one comment, he writes, "The AI did what we told it to do and we painstakingly created every second you'll see on the screen," going on to say that everyone (especially Instagram users) takes advantage of AI in everyday life.In response to a more conciliatory but still critical comment, Rodgers doubled down on the idea that everyone uses AI all the time and that he "used to work with Microsoft and Apple: "I think it's somewhat hypocritical to say you're anti AI and you're using it all the time because it makes your life convenient." (This was not what the commenter said.) It really is striking how many of the artists embracing generative AI are established elders, who could do serious damage to their legacies by going all-in on slop. Rodgers' embrace of AI isn't going to change the fact that he made "Le Freak" and "Upside Down" and "Let's Dance" and countless other classics, but it remains genuinely embarrassing.