On Friday, an AI-generated soul singer reached number one on the Christian charts with a new Christmas EP called A Soulful Christmas, which features “Soul to the World” and “Jingle Bell Soul.” 

This has ignited fresh concern among worship leaders who fear believers have been engaging with music created by machines rather than human hearts.

Soloman Ray, the virtual singer appeared as a Mississippi soul musician and drew more than 324,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Online viewers questioned the authenticity of his music, with one writing: “This is AI. The lyrics are beautiful but it feels so wrong coming from a thing without a soul.”

Worship artist Forrest Frank said online, he believed “at minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it,” adding that it was “really weird to be opening up your spirit to something that has no spirit.”

The real Solomon Ray, a worship leader in Montana who has worked with Elevation Woship, told Christianity Today that the situation had amused but also saddened him.

He said, “It bums me out to see people get hoodwinked by AI,” explaining that the vocal precision and creative choices immediately signalled to him that the music was generated by algorithms and not by a human artist. He added that God wanted “costly worship” rather than songs crafted by machines.

The creator behind the AI persona, Christopher “Topher” Town, described himself online as “the man behind the machine”.

He defended the project, saying it was “an extension of my creativity” and argued that “God can use any vehicle to reach people,” even if the music “may not be performed by” a Christian.