Gospel icon Joe Mettle has urged the Christian music community to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a sophisticated tool for ministry rather than a threat to spirituality.

Speaking on the evolving landscape of the music industry, the "Bo Noo Ni" hitmaker dismissed the notion held by some of his peers that AI is inherently "unspiritual". He argued that the spiritual essence of a song is determined by the heart of the minister who feeds the technology, not the algorithms themselves.

Addressing the scepticism within the gospel fraternity, Joe Mettle clarified that AI operates on a principle of sampling and data processing. He contended that if a spiritual person provides the source material, the output retains that divine intentionality.

“I've had conversations with some of my friends who are also gospel ministers who sometimes say AI is not spiritual, but I think if you understand how it works, you realise that it has nothing to do with spirit,” Joe Mettle explained. “The sound you feed it is the sound it produces for you.”

Inside the Mettle Method: How he uses AI

Proving that he is at the forefront of the digital shift, Joe Mettle revealed that he has already integrated AI into his creative workflow, but with a strict "human-first" approach.

Unlike users who allow AI to generate songs from scratch, Joe Mettle uses the technology as a virtual session player. He and his producer first record the core of the song, the keyboards, lyrics, and arrangements, before using AI to extract or generate specific accompaniments like drums, bass, or strings based on detailed descriptions.

“I do the lyrics, the arrangements, everything and then sometimes,then you insert it. So in this case, AI wasn't the one that did it. What AI did was extract the rest of the music in terms of like the drum and the bass,” he shared.

The Copyright Trap

However, the singer issued a stern warning regarding the "AI fingerprint". He noted that sounds generated entirely by AI often contain quotes or digital markers that online platforms can identify.

Artistes who do not redo or humanise their AI-generated tracks risk facing severe copyright strikes and losing the rights to their work.

“When you put an AI system back into the online [space], the same AI can generate and let you know that you did not do that work... AI will start punching out people's songs,” he warned.

A Call for Industry Dialogue

Joe Mettle concluded by advocating for a broader, more sober discussion among Ghanaian musicians about the advantages of AI.

He believes that while the technology offers immense benefits in production speed and complexity, it must be handled with the wisdom of a craftsman to avoid legal and creative pitfalls.

“It’s a subject that needs to be discussed. It has a lot of advantages. Trust me, a lot,” he added.