Prospects, Challenges, and Ethical Concerns in the Application of AI in Nollywood Productions
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Abstract
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has redefined the act of filmmaking worldwide, not leaving out the Nigerian Nollywood. This study specifically examined the extent of AI application and use in enhancing quality, the challenges, and the ethical issues in the utilisation of AI in Nollywood. The study was anchored on the Technological Determinism Theory and the Media Ecology Theory. It adopted a quantitative design with a population of 1658 and a sample of 168 respondents, drawn from Nollywood filmmakers. A self-designed structured questionnaire was administered online and analysed using mean scores with a decision point of 3.0 and above for acceptance and below for rejection. From the analyses, the study revealed that AI is significantly employed in movie editing, subtitling, costing, and movie distribution. However, adoption has not been common. This was seconded by the fact that AI helps in lowering the cost of production, boosts creativity and efficiency and encourages competitiveness of Nollywood films within and abroad. However, some of the challenges identified are poor infrastructure, cost of implementation, weak IP protection, and regulation. Among ethical issues identified are intellectual property rights, job displacement, socio-economic disparity and cultural erosion. From the above, the challenges of implementing AI in Nollywood are obvious, covering socio-economic readiness, institutions, and regulatory frameworks that need to be maximised to maximise the benefits of AI. Therefore, this study recommends AI policy, investment in digital infrastructure, provision of incentives to filmmakers, improvement of intellectual property rights, ethical guidelines, and industry cooperation for responsible and sustainable use of AI in the movie-making business
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