Digital avatars are all the rage these days, from AI models to digital influencers and even AI actors, but Xania Monet is the first AI artist to really give us humans a challenge in the music scene. On November 1st, the AI singer hit No. 30 on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, securing a $3 million record deal in the process, and once again sparking controversy around the rise of AI.

Whispered into existence by Mississippi-based poet and songwriter Telisha “Nikki” Jones, Xania Monet brings her creator’s lyrics to life to the beats of R&B with the help of Suno, a popular AI music-generating platform. Jones considers Xania an extension of herself, adding that Xania helps her bring her lyrics and poems inspired by life experiences to the world.

“We used AI as a tool, which is what it was created for. We used it to enhance our artistry,” Romel Murphy, Xania’s manager, told CNN. “We created real R&B music, music that was rooted in the truth — real lyrics, and her real life experiences and life lessons. AI helped us bring the message to life and deliver it to the world. But the artistry and the message behind it is all human.”

“How Was I Supposed to Know” initially went viral on TikTok before gradually spreading to other platforms and entering the Billboard R&B chart. This is only Xania’s latest hit, as she has been keeping very busy in the four months since making her musical debut. She has released 44 songs on Spotify and has gained around 1.2 million followers on the music service, as well as almost 800,000 others on various social media platforms.

Xania Monet’s meteoric rise attracted the attention of record company Hallwood Media, whose executives signed her and the human artist behind the AI avatar in a $3 million deal.

“I’m just taking what I love doing and mixing it with tech,” Tellisha Jones said. “I just feel like AI … it’s the new era that we’re in. And I look at it as a tool, as an instrument, and utilize it.”

Not everyone in the music industry agrees with Jones’ take on AI, though. Human artists are concerned that they could soon be phased out in favour of artificial intelligence models that can generate content at an unmatchable pace, and that streaming services and record labels will start focusing and investing more in AI than in human talent. However, the calls for legislation to protect the rights of real musicians have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Jones, who admits she is not a singer herself and relies on Suno to bring her poems to life musically, is not phased by the criticism, claiming that she is only using AI as a tool and that she is the real artist behind the project.