AI can’t replace human storytelling, Ekwuazi tells filmmakers

By Oluseye Ojo Professor of Broadcasting and Film, Hyginus Ekwuazi, has said Artificial Intelligence may be revolutionising filmmaking, but it can never replace the human creativity, emotion and storytelling that make great films endure. He made the disclosure in the keynote, titled, ‘AI is Everything, But the Story is the Thing,” which he delivered virtually during the international conference, organised by the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN) in Enugu on Friday. The former Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan, urged filmmakers to embrace AI as a powerful creative tool without losing sight of the central place of compelling storytelling. Ekwuazi said although artificial intelligence now influences virtually every stage of filmmaking, technology alone cannot produce timeless cinema. “AI can create the film, but it cannot breathe life into the story. Technology makes films possible, but it is the story that makes the film unforgettable,” he declared. He described AI as the latest milestone in cinema’s technological evolution, following the transition from sound to colour, analogue to digital technology and film stock to pixels. According to him, AI now permeates the entire film value chain, from script development, production and post-production to distribution, marketing and preservation. He said filmmakers increasingly rely on AI for brainstorming, research, dialogue suggestions and script analysis; budgeting, scheduling, casting recommendations, storyboard generation and shot planning. According to him, AI is also transforming post-production through editing, sound enhancement, colour grading, subtitling and dubbing while improving audience analytics, personalised marketing, recommendation engines, restoration and digital archiving. Tags: