Nile Rodgers defends the AI-made video for The Christmas Song: 'The AI did what we told it to do'

Nile Rodgers is getting hit in his Instagram comments over an AI music video, and he’s answering back one comment at a time.

Rodgers is making a video with AI for a new version of “The Christmas Song”, his 2020 charity collaboration with Rebecca Ferguson. Fans went after the clips, and on November 5, 2026, he told one of them: “The AI did what we told it to do and we painstakingly created every second you’ll see on the screen.”

The video isn’t out yet. Rodgers says he’s rushing to finish it by November 20.

What Nile Rodgers posted about The Christmas Song video

It started earlier in the week with footage of Rodgers in a photogrammetry rig, Consequence reports. That’s a setup that photographs you from many angles so software can build a 3D model of you.

“This is the start of the process. This AI capture was very thorough and I’m so excited about the finished project,” Rodgers wrote. He said seeing the Eagles at the Sphere in Las Vegas gave him the idea.

On Wednesday, November 4, he posted stills. Consequence describes Rodgers and Ferguson on a stage with a giant fuzzy creature and a crowd of smaller ones.

He also explained why he made the song in the first place. “When I had my 1st bought of cancer it was a child who coached me and gave me courage to fight,” he wrote. “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.”

The comments under those posts went a different way.

How fans reacted to Nile Rodgers’ AI music video

The backlash came fast. “There’s better way to preserve your legacy,” one commenter wrote, according to Rolling Stone. Consequence quotes another: “Ai slop is like some kind of magic for old ppl.”

Rodgers asked people to wait. “Wait to you see it before you make judgement,” he told the first. “You’re imagining the worst instead of imagining the best.” To the second: “Do you have a problem with CGI?”

The commenter he answered first didn’t back down: “I don’t have to imagine my friend, look what AI has done to art in general yet alone music.”

The stills didn’t change many minds. One commenter called out the use of AI on a charity release, and that’s when Rodgers laid out his full case.

Nile Rodgers’ defense: ‘We created everything’

Rodgers’ argument has 2 parts. The first is that his team made the creative calls:

“

We created everything. Mood boards, story boards and did it the same way we'd do a film. The AI did what we told it to do and we painstakingly created every second you'll see on the screen... If this were a traditional film it would've cost about $100,000.

The second is that his critics use AI too. “By the way you’re using AI daily. You just hit me on Instagram. You’re being hypocritical,” he wrote. “It’s ok for you to use AI in your way but you have problem with my way. Do you use Google, or get driving directions? Look at your own daily actions and check how much you use AI.”

He made the same point to another commenter, adding: “I used to work with Microsoft and Apple. I’m very aware of the things they do when they have new tech that consumers like yourself adopt its usage. Love to you. I respect all opinions.”

Consequence’s Ben Kaye doesn’t buy that comparison. He draws a line between utility machine learning, like GPS directions, and generative design work, calling it “the difference between organizing data and painting a picture.”

None of this comes out of nowhere for Rodgers.

Nile Rodgers’ position on AI before The Christmas Song

Rodgers has backed AI for years. In 2023, MusicTech reported him urging musicians to embrace it, saying the complaints sounded like noise he’d heard all his life.

He also draws a line of his own. In 2024, he told Euronews: “I think using AI-generated vocals to copy another person’s sound is horrible, but using AI to artistically express yourself and make better music, I think, is fantastic.”

Consequence suggests Rodgers and Ferguson are “presumably AI recreated in some way” in these stills. The reports don’t say how much of the video is real footage, or which AI tools made it.

Other artists who have used AI in music videos

Rodgers joins a growing list:

• Billy Joel turned into his younger selves in an AI-powered video.
• Gucci Mane released an AI video made by Harmony Korine’s studio EDGLRD.
• Toni Braxton posted a Tiny Desk AI edit this month.

If you want to try this on your own release, my AI music video generator roundup compares the tools.

Rodgers told one critic to wait until they’ve seen it. If he hits his date, you can judge for yourself on November 20.