Are the NAMA's right in Nominating an AI Generated Video??

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, at the moment it's in nearly every online platform in one way or the other. There is still a lot skepticism about it's overall benefits and whether the current direction and developments are the way to go but we can no longer ignore or easily block it.

In Zimbabwe the majority of people experience AI via WhatsApp's Meta, it's the platform that's easiest to access. Its basically used as a Google alternative. 

Those who have full access to other AI platforms know how disruptive AI is becoming. At the current moment the creative sector is feeling some serious heat, arguably the biggest disruption the sector has ever faced.  

In just a few years of AI going mainstream graphic designing is basically dead, AI models can easily design a standard flyer, logo, advert. Music production is also under threat with platforms such as Suno music where one can make a full song from just prompts, for genres such as pop music which was fully computer generated the future is bleak, it will however take a couple more updates to fully replace those niche fusion sounds such as Afro fusion, Chimurenga music which are live instrument led and require specific traditional instruments such as Mbira, hosho, banjo etc in their creation. Video production is also under serious threat with video generating platforms such as Veo, Nano Banana, Grok Imagine...etc which are all getting better at rapid speed with every update, these ones may take over faster than music generating ones. From what I have highlighted above you can see that the arts sector is in a limbo, major question now is how should we embrace such AI generated Art in our society, should we celebrate it just as we do "traditionally" made art?? Should we judge it using the same measure?? 

These questions came about when the biggest awards ceremony in Zimbabwe the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) released their nominations for this year's edition. Among the video of the year category they included an AI generated video: Fake Love by Winky D which was prompted by Jusa Dementor in the mix with other "traditionally" made videos and it grabbed my attention. It got me thinking : is it right move, is it the way to go??

The NAMA's are the guardians of Arts in Zimbabwe and what they do or how they move has repercussions across the entire creative industry.

To give an overview the arts industry (music industry in this instance) operates as a balanced ecosystem of vocalists, songwriters, beat makers, producers, sound engineers, cinematographers, video editors, choreographers who all contribute to make a timeless project. In Zimbabwe we have had some issues establishing a working comprehensive system but in the past decade a lot of progress has been made in making our arts industry operate in a proper way and blindly embracing AI is going to disrupt this development.

With NAMA embracing an AI video, especially one which is 100% AI generated is a not well thought out decision in my opinion at this moment. This move basically sends a signal to artists, it's an incentive for many artists to follow suit which will leads the the death of local videographers, who were impressively leveling up, meaning the survival of a whole system and careers of camera people, lightning crews, make up crews, costume designers, choreographers, dancers is on the line. 

A more pragmatic and strategic decision would have been better at this juncture, imposing a quota of some sort (for example implementing a maximum percentage of 15%-20% AI generated content in a music video for a video to be considered). That way AI can be used in those instances where Computer Generated Images (CGI) were being used, it will work as a cheaper alternative to CGI for those dramatic scenes. The larger part of the videos will remain real world footages and this will help preserve authenticity in music videos.

We have to understand that music videos are not just for entertainment but also are an important tool to showcase the way of life of people and also the beauty of certain places. A song about societal issues can go further if it shows the mood on the ground. Many got to know of Bridal Veil Falls after watching Janet Manyowa's Zadzisa video some got to know La Rochelle by watching Jah Prayzah's Jerusarema video. Music videos also act as tourism marketing tools and this is something that will be lost if we blindly push for AI videos. 

Another vital loss that is currently brought by AI generated that the current videos lack emotions depth, there is something about seeing the body language and facial expression of an artist when they sing, the expression an artist does when they hits that amazing note/chorus or when they do that signature dance. Emotion is a vital part of art and it should be treasured, the NAMA's should play a leading role in that given they applaud and award the purest and finest forms of local art.

However as I said we cannot ignore or block out AI so a better option at this juncture is to create a separate category for AI made art, which is separate from the other traditionally made art. I believe it's unfair to bundle a video or song which required a whole team of people to create against one that only required one person who is good at writing prompts. NAMA should take a leading role in ensuring we keep the ecosystem growing as we embrace the new technologies.

To conclude I suggest there is need to have indepth discussions on how we will regulate and control the infiltration of AI in the arts sector to minimize the disruption. This is not to block AI but to find ways for it to coexist's with already existing ways of creating art. An evolution is underway in the sector and it's up to all stakeholders such as NAMA, Ministry of Arts, ZBC, Alpha Media, Zimpapers, Zimura, Radio Stations...etc to steer the path.

Ya so those are my thoughts on this issue of AI in the Arts sector, feel free to comment with your thoughts and ideas.

Proud_Zimbo.