Nile Rodgers defends his AI-made music video
Criticized by fans, Nile Rodgers defends the AI video for his version of The Christmas Song: mood boards, storyboards and a $100,000 shoot avoided. What it means for your own videos.
Frank HoubreFounder of Imaginode
4 min read
An AI Christmas video, and angry fans
Nile Rodgers, the Chic guitarist and producer, is making an AI video for his new version of "The Christmas Song". Some fans pushed back, and he answered without backing down.
It started with an Instagram post. Rodgers shared a snippet of the project and wrote, according to Vice: "This AI capture was very thorough and I'm so excited about the finished project." He says the idea came from seeing the Eagles at the Sphere in Las Vegas, with stories set in "incredible environments".
The replies were sharp. One follower told him, as reported by Female First, that there was "a better way to preserve your legacy". Rodgers asked them to wait and see it before judging. Things heated up when he shared more previews.
At 74, Rodgers has worked with David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran. He is not a newcomer trying a tool, which is why the exchange spread.
His defense: "we created everything"
Rodgers' answer comes down to one idea: the AI executed, the team made every decision. And he gives a number.
The line quoted by Vice and Female First: "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."
To another commenter, he said "it's somewhat hypocritical to say you're anti AI and you're using it all the time because it makes your life convenient." He mentioned having worked with Microsoft and Apple, and signed off with "I respect all opinions."
His position is not new. Female First recalls that he told Euronews that using AI vocals to copy another person's sound is "horrible", but that using AI to express yourself is "fantastic", "just another color on your palette". He compares AI to drum machines, synthesizers and Auto-Tune, which were also met with suspicion at first.
What is actually said, and what is not
Under the controversy there is a precise claim about method. It is worth separating from the rest.
What Rodgers says: the video was prepared like a film, with mood boards and storyboards, then generated shot by shot. What we don't know: which tools were used, how long it took, what the generation cost, and what the finished video looks like. None of the articles we read say.
The $100,000 figure is a comparison with a conventional shoot, given by Rodgers in a comment. It is not a quote. It only gives the order of magnitude of what he thinks he avoided.
So the argument is less about technique than about trust. Fans fear a soulless video. Rodgers answers that the soul is in the decisions made before generating. That is exactly the line between a crafted AI video and one typed in a single sentence.
Nile Rodgers' AI video: what we know as of November 9, 2026
| Point | What is reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The song | A new version of "The Christmas Song" | Vice, Female First |
| The inspiration | The Eagles at the Sphere in Las Vegas | Instagram, quoted by Vice |
| The method | Mood boards and storyboards, "the same way we'd do a film" | Rodgers' comment |
| Cost avoided | About $100,000 for a conventional shoot | Rodgers' estimate |
| Tools used | Not specified | No source |
| Finished video | Not yet seen in the articles we read | No source |
What it means if you make a video with AI
The method Rodgers describes is the right one. What he is missing, for now, is showing it.
Plan before you generate. A mood board for the look, a storyboard shot by shot, a duration for each shot. That is what separates a video that tells something from a string of pretty, unrelated images. Our guide to storyboarding before you shoot starts there.
Keep a record of your work. The "AI did it all" criticism falls apart when you can show the boards, the rejected takes and the choices. Rodgers says it, but has not shown it yet: a making-of would probably have calmed part of the comments.
Do your sums honestly. An AI video is not free: every regenerated shot is paid for. Our breakdown of what an AI image or video costs gives benchmarks. And stay with your own voice: Rodgers himself draws the line at cloning another artist's voice, the same line as in the lawsuits against Suno.
What I would do this week
If you are planning a video, even a short one: storyboard first, generation second, and a three-image making-of.
Cut your track into shots of 4 to 8 seconds and write for each one what we see, where the camera is and how long it lasts. A three-minute video means about thirty shots.
Approve the boards before you launch a single video. Changing a board costs seconds, regenerating a video costs credits.
On the Imaginode canvas, the mood board, the boards and the videos sit side by side, with the prompt behind every render. You get your making-of without extra work.
How we analysed this
Written on November 9, 2026 from Vice's November 6, 2026 article by Caleb Catlin and Female First's November 6, 2026 article, which both quote Nile Rodgers' Instagram posts and his replies to fans. The screenshots come from these two pages and from Nile Rodgers' official website, captured on November 9, 2026.
We have not seen the finished video or the Instagram posts themselves: the quotes are those reported by these outlets. The $100,000 figure is Nile Rodgers' own estimate, not a published budget. Disclosure: Imaginode, Frank's product, is a tool for planning and generating AI images and video.