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Ghanaian digital media entrepreneur Ameyaw Debrah has urged creatives not to surrender their originality to artificial intelligence, warning that the growing pressure to embrace AI could come at the expense of human creativity.
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Ghanaian digital media entrepreneur Ameyaw Debrah has urged creatives not to surrender their originality to artificial intelligence, warning that the growing pressure to embrace AI could come at the expense of human creativity.
While acknowledging the technology’s usefulness in content production, the entertainment blogger says he is concerned about a future in which automation takes over so much of the creative process that people lose the freedom to think and create for themselves.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Debrah admitted that his relationship with artificial intelligence has evolved considerably, moving from initial resistance to using it as a practical tool in his work.
But he believes there must be a clear distinction between using AI to improve human capabilities and allowing it to replace them.
“Come on, we are human beings. Let us be human beings. Human beings and let AI support us,” he said.
‘We just want to enhance our human capabilities’
Debrah said he initially disliked artificial intelligence and had openly expressed his reservations about it.
“In the beginning, I hated it,” he told Kafui Dey, reflecting on his early reaction to the technology.
His position has since changed, particularly after discovering ways AI could make aspects of his work more efficient.
The blogger explained that he now uses AI when writing, including to adjust the tone of his work, transcribe interviews and help shape articles to fit a particular writing style.
Describing how he incorporates the technology into his workflow, he said: “Sometimes I interview people, I use AI to transcribe.”
He added that he can ask the technology to adapt a transcription to a particular style before reviewing the result himself.
“I use AI to say, change this transcription in a certain style, to write the article in this style, and then they do it for me,” he explained.
For Mr. Debrah, these are examples of how artificial intelligence can support rather than eliminate human effort.
“I think these are positive ways of using AI,” he said.
He believes the technology should help people work more effectively while leaving room for the judgement, imagination and personal touch that distinguish human creativity.
The creativity problem
Despite his willingness to embrace AI tools, Debrah is troubled by the possibility that people could become so dependent on automation that they stop exercising their own creative abilities.
He warned that the growing tendency to hand over tasks entirely to technology could undermine the very qualities that make creative work distinctive.
“We all want to be human. We just want to enhance our human capabilities,” he said.
However, he added that the prospect of technology “killing human mind creativity” and leaving everything to automation was worrying.
His concern is not simply about whether AI can produce an article, song or image. It is about what happens when people begin to rely on automated systems for ideas and decisions they would otherwise develop themselves.
For journalists, writers, musicians, filmmakers and designers, the distinction is particularly important. AI can speed up production, but the human choices behind a piece of work from its central idea to its emotional depth remain central to its impact.
Tired of the pressure to embrace AI
Debrah also took issue with the messaging surrounding artificial intelligence, particularly online content that presents adopting AI as essential to professional survival.
He said he sometimes becomes frustrated when he encounters YouTube videos pushing the idea that people must use AI or risk losing their future.
“Sometimes I get frustrated when I go to YouTube and you hear that annoying voice,” he said, describing the repetitive messages encouraging people to adopt the technology.
He is especially concerned about the suggestion that anyone who fails to jump on the AI trend is doomed professionally.
“Everybody is saying, if you’re not jumping on AI, your future is dying,” he said.
For Debrah, such messaging creates unnecessary pressure and overlooks the fact that people can develop valuable skills and produce meaningful work without handing every task over to artificial intelligence.
“I think the people should allow us to be humans,” he said.
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