Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong-Manso has warned that the global film industry is currently operating in “panic mode” as Artificial Intelligence (AI) advances at breakneck speed, already displacing jobs and fundamentally altering how films are made.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Friday, October 30, 2026, the acclaimed director observed that AI is rapidly reshaping core elements of filmmaking, from scriptwriting and music composition to production design and camera operation.
She noted that parallel improvements in camera technology and digital set creation are compounding the pressure on traditional roles across the sector.
Frimpong-Manso stated: “The film industry around the world, I mean everybody, is all in panic mode because it’s already taking a lot of jobs away. I mean, sometimes when you see the films, some of the films that we’re making now, you can clearly see that these are AI-written scripts that you get, and music is also having the same thing.”
She explained that AI tools now enable filmmakers to generate elaborate production environments without the need for physical construction.
This capability, she argued, poses a direct threat to employment across multiple departments.
“We have digital operator cameras now, where you don’t have people standing behind you, and then of course, in a space like this, all you need to probably do is to put chairs in there, and you could change the entire backdrop of this place into a palace, all with AI. So these things are happening, and they’re happening very, very fast,” she said.
Despite the scale of disruption, Frimpong-Manso counselled industry practitioners against resistance. Instead, she urged them to study the technology’s capabilities and invest in training so that crews can adapt and remain relevant.
“Now, so what are you going to do? Are you just going to sit back and cry about it? No, you have to learn, you know, what the dynamics are, train, obviously, the crew. Even I’m learning very much how to use these tools to my benefit,” she said.
The filmmaker highlighted a significant upside: AI can unlock stories that were previously prohibitively expensive to produce, especially historical epics requiring complex sets and extensive visual effects.
“So typically, I’m guessing with AI now, we can begin to tell perhaps some of our stories from the past that a few years ago, we were not going to be able to, because it was going to cost us an arm and a leg to tell. Now with AI, you know, it’s possible to go back and tell a Yaa Asantewaa film, but done very well. Emphasis on the done very well,” she said.
Frimpong-Manso added that the anxiety surrounding AI extends well beyond cinema, describing it as a broader challenge confronting industries far outside the creative field.
Her remarks underscore both the urgency of adaptation and the potential for technology to expand, rather than merely diminish, storytelling possibilities when handled with skill and intention.
