In an age when technology and creativity often intersect, Dubai broadcaster Al Mashhad TV has set a new standard with an AI-driven programme titled ‘Ramz Wa Athar’ (An Icon, A Legacy). In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Nebras Hameed, Head of Creative Services at Al Mashhad, talks about the creative process and the challenges of integrating AI with historical storytelling.
Ramz Wa Athar is a television show that explores the lives of scholars and thinkers from the Islamic Golden Age. Al Mashhad uses the power of AI with historical narratives to bring these influential figures to life. Spanning 11-13 minutes per episode, the programme showcases the possibilities of AI in reshaping traditional media formats, offering audiences a visually stunning experience.
The team’s plan to integrate AI into Ramz Wa Athar was driven by a desire to transcend traditional storytelling methods, says Nebras Hameed, Head of Creative Services, Al Mashhad. “We wanted to push the boundaries of traditional storytelling to enhance our creative output. Our aim was to create a seamless blend of historical accuracy and modern innovation, making the rich history of the Islamic Golden Age accessible and engaging for contemporary audiences.”
Besides enriching the viewer’s experience, the team also wanted to streamline the production process, significantly reducing the time required to produce complex scenes.
“Integrating AI into Ramz Wa Athar is part of Al Mashhad’s strategic direction to utilise the power of technology. We wanted to provide an experience that transcends the boundaries of platforms to present bold and varied content based on cutting-edge technologies.”
The creative process
The creative journey began with extensive research into the lives of key historical figures, says Hameed. “We did in-depth research into the lives and contributions of key historical figures, utilising AI research tools. D-ID helped us achieve accurate lip-syncing for our AI-generated presenter, while Runway animated scenes to engage and captivate movements within each scene.”
The team employed ChatGPT to draft prompts that would feed into Midjourney, an AI tool for generating images that visually represent these historical narratives. AI also helped animate the scenes and ensured accurate lip-syncing for the virtual presenter. The final composition was done in After Effects, where human creativity merged with AI-generated content, ensuring the storytelling was not only accurate but also compelling.
AI was also used to enhance “the thematic depth and visual representation of complex historical concepts”, says Hameed. “It enhanced our ability to visualise complex scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. For example, recreating the intricate workings of early astrolabes or visualising the thought processes of pioneering mathematicians became more immersive and accurate.”
This allows the programme to offer viewers a deeper understanding of the intellectual achievements of the Islamic Golden Age, making complex ideas more accessible and engaging.
Project challenges
The project, however, was not without its challenges. One critical challenge in AI-driven media production is finding the right balance between human creativity and AI automation, says Hameed. For Ramz Wa Athar, this balance was achieved through a collaborative approach where AI served as an enhancer rather than a replacement for human creativity. This symbiosis ensured that while AI handled the technical aspects of visual and auditory production, the team guided the narrative, maintaining emotional depth and contextual accuracy.
This also led to some interesting creative outcomes. Hameed elaborates: “One unexpected outcome was the spontaneous creation of unique visual styles that we hadn’t initially envisioned. AI’s ability to interpret our prompts in novel ways often led to visually striking and imaginative results.” These unanticipated results pushed the creative boundaries of the production team, leading to a richer and more diverse visual narrative.
Audience engagement was another area in which AI made a significant impact. The dynamic animations and lifelike presenter created through AI technology captured viewers’ attention, making the historical content more interactive and visually appealing.
“One of the biggest challenges was ensuring the AI-generated visuals and animations were historically accurate and contextually appropriate,” Hameed recalls. This required meticulous fine-tuning and a deep understanding of both the technology and the historical content, and was addressed through an iterative process of adjusting prompts and refining AI models, ensuring the final product met the standards set by the creative team.
“It [AI] enhanced our ability to visualise complex scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas”, Nebras Hameed, Head of Creative Services at Al Mashhad
Despite these challenges, the production team developed a streamlined workflow that seamlessly integrated AI tools at various stages of production. The secret lay in “regular communication and collaboration between our creative team members”. This ensured that the final product was cohesive and, he believes, of high quality.
Ethical considerations and AI bias
Incorporating AI into a project with such cultural and historical significance also required careful consideration of ethical implications. Al Mashhad was aware of the responsibility that came with using AI in this context, says Hameed. “Ethical considerations were paramount. We ensured that the AI’s outputs were historically accurate and culturally sensitive.” The team also addressed concerns about AI bias by carefully curating the datasets used to train the AI models, ensuring diversity and fair representation of the historical figures and contexts portrayed.
All in all, Hameed calls Ramz Wa Athar a “resounding success, achieving its goal of merging historical storytelling with modern technology to create a captivating viewing experience”. Critical to this was a combination of skills – a deep understanding of AI technologies, historical research expertise and a substantial creative vision. Effective project management and resilience were also key, enabling the team to coordinate the various aspects of AI integration and content creation.
The project provided valuable lessons for the team at Al Mashhad, says Hameed: “We learned that while AI can significantly enhance creativity and efficiency, human oversight is crucial to ensure the quality and accuracy of the content.”
The programme’s success has set the stage for further exploration of AI tools in future projects, with Al Mashhad planning to enhance its workflow to better integrate them. The AI solutions developed for Ramz Wa Athar are highly scalable, making them adaptable to other types of content and genres.
Hameed sees vast potential: “The AI technology used in Ramz Wa Athar is versatile and can be adapted for various other types of content, from documentaries to fictional narratives and even educational programmes. This adaptability opens up new possibilities for AI in content creation, limited only by the creative vision of the production teams.”
Looking ahead, he sees AI playing an increasingly integral role in television production: “AI is set to revolutionise TV production by enhancing efficiency, expanding creative possibilities and enabling more personalised viewer experiences.”
As AI technology continues to evolve, it is expected to become a standard tool in the industry, from preproduction to post-production, driving innovation and creativity in ways that are yet to be fully realised.
