Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Arts - Panel Discussion

The Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) recently held a panel discussion titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Arts: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions” at the auditorium of the Ethiopian Heritage Authority.

The event brought together scholars, artists, legal experts, students, media professionals, and policymakers to explore the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the creative sector. It marked the first in a planned series of public dialogues organized by the Academy to examine the opportunities and challenges AI presents for Ethiopia’s knowledge systems, cultural heritage, and creative industries.

Professor Belay Kassa, President of the EAS, opened the panel discussion by noting that artificial intelligence is reshaping every professional field, presenting both significant opportunities and notable challenges. He stressed the importance of understanding these developments and promoting the ethical use of AI to maximize its benefits. Encouraging scholars to contribute their perspectives, he underscored that advancing scientific knowledge and facilitating technology transfer remain central to the Academy’s mission.

The event was moderated by Dr. Berhanu Beshah, a fellow industrial engineer and author of መንግሥትና ሀብት who has been working on AI related projects. It featured presentations by creative practitioners followed by a multidisciplinary panel discussion involving experts in artificial intelligence, linguistics, cultural heritage, and digital governance. The book was developed from notes she took 15 years ago while her brother was receiving treatment at Amanuel Hospital.

Opening the session, Mrs. Senait Tibebu, a demographer and author, shared her experience using generative AI in her recently published book “ርእስ ከአንባቢው”. She explained how AI helped transform some of the notes she took 15 years ago while her brother was receiving treatment at Amanuel Hospital into a structured narrative. While acknowledging AI’s ability to improve efficiency and support creative work, she stressed that human creativity remains irreplaceable. She also raised concerns about authorship, ethics, and the widening digital divide affecting developing countries.

Music researcher and educator Mr. Medhin Tessema examined the influence of AI on Ethiopia’s music industry. He noted that many AI systems are trained on copyrighted works without the consent of artists, raising serious intellectual property concerns. He also warned that AI-generated music often fails to capture the richness of Ethiopia’s traditional pentatonic scales and indigenous musical instruments, potentially distorting the country’s musical heritage. He emphasized that AI should complement rather than replace human creativity and recommended limiting its use to technical and repetitive tasks.

During the panel discussion, Dr. Beakal Gizachew, an AI researcher at Addis Ababa University, described generative AI as a transformative technological revolution comparable to previous industrial and digital revolutions. Citing recent industry data indicating that more than 80 percent of creative enterprises have adopted AI tools, he explained that AI offers significant opportunities for innovation and economic growth. However, he cautioned that countries lacking strong digital infrastructure and locally developed AI systems risk becoming increasingly dependent on foreign technologies and losing control over their cultural and digital assets.

Dr. Wondwossen Mulugeta, Vice President for Digitalization and Infrastructure at Addis Ababa University, discussed the technical challenges of developing AI systems for Ethiopia’s linguistically diverse and morphologically rich languages. He explained that the quality of AI-generated content depends largely on the availability of accurate, well-curated training data. According to Dr. Wondwossen, most AI development efforts should focus on collecting, verifying, and organizing high-quality local-language datasets. Without such investment, he warned, many Ethiopian languages could remain underrepresented in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

From a policy and cultural heritage perspective, Mr. Sertse Fre Sibhat, Director General of the National Archives and Library Agency (NALA), highlighted the legal and ethical implications of AI for the arts. While recognizing AI’s potential to improve efficiency, he argued that artistic creativity is fundamentally rooted in human experience, originality, and emotional expression. He also noted that existing copyright laws are not adequately prepared to address emerging challenges such as deepfake, unauthorized use of copyrighted materials for AI training, and AI-generated intellectual property. He called for updated legal frameworks to safeguard Ethiopia’s cultural heritage, historical archives, and national data resources.

The event concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session involving participants attending both in person and virtually through Zoom. Discussions covered topics including AI ethics, algorithmic bias, mental health, copyright protection, and the economic implications of large language models.

In her closing remarks, Professor Yalemtsehay Mekonnen, Founding Fellow of the EAS, thanked the speakers and participants for their contributions. She emphasized that the benefits of artificial intelligence depend on responsible human use, ethical governance, and adequate preparation. She reaffirmed the Academy’s commitment to continuing similar public forums on AI and other emerging technologies in sectors such as health, finance, law, and education to promote scientific literacy and informed public dialogue in Ethiopia.