{"id":2518,"date":"2025-05-02T12:33:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2025-05-02T12:33:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:33:35","slug":"ai-could-help-rebalance-global-storytelling-in-childrens-media-experts-at-sharjah-animation-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/ai-could-help-rebalance-global-storytelling-in-childrens-media-experts-at-sharjah-animation-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Could Help Rebalance Global Storytelling In Children’s Media: Experts At Sharjah Animation Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Artificial intelligence<\/a> has the potential to transform the future of children\u2019s content and empower storytellers from underrepresented regions, said leading global creators who gathered at the 3rd annual Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC 2025) for a panel discussion \u2018The Future of Kids\u2019 Content and AI\u2019, on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Mounia Aram, founder of the Mounia Aram Company, the session featured Raymond Malinga (CEO, Creatures Animation Studio, Uganda), Irmak Atabek (Co-founder, KidsAI and MakoKids), and Olivier Lelardoux (CEO, Blue Spirit Studio, France).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI as a tool for global equity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, Western countries dominate the animation landscape,\u201d said Lelardoux. \u201cAI could rebalance this by giving creators in Africa, the Arab world, and Asia the tools to tell their stories to a global audience without relying on traditional studio infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raymond Malinga, whose Ugandan studio created the widely viewed \u2018A Kalabanda Ate My Homework\u2019, highlighted both the potential and the challenges of building AI tools locally. \u201cTraining our own AI models is expensive and time-consuming, especially in landlocked countries like mine,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if we want authentic stories that don\u2019t look like generic Western outputs, we must build our own systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create responsibly, build ethically<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irmak Atabek, whose latest venture KidsAI is developing child-friendly AI literacy tools, called for a shift in how the industry treats intellectual property. \u201cWe need to build and train our own models using licensed art and do this responsibly, especially when developing tools for children\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her upcoming show Zoe and Oli, launching soon on YouTube, teaches children how AI works by following the story of a girl who builds a solar-powered AI unicorn. \u201cChildren are digital natives. They need to understand the systems they\u2019re growing up with,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A future of pocket-sized studios<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panellists agreed that AI could usher in a new generation of creators. \u201cWe\u2019re entering the age of the \u2018pocket studio\u2019,\u201d said Lelardoux. \u201cWith the right tools, a single creator can produce entire shows from their bedroom. That\u2019s a powerful shift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he cautioned that while AI might accelerate production and lower costs, it could also devalue traditional animation workflows. \u201cWe need to focus on high-quality, premium content\u2014on what\u2019s difficult to replicate. That\u2019s where lasting value lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While concerns around job displacement and creative dilution were acknowledged, the tone of the discussion remained optimistic. \u201cAI is not the end of creativity; it\u2019s an evolution,\u201d said Atabek. \u201cThe real threat is not technology, but failing to adapt responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malinga concluded with a rallying call for inclusion. \u201cAfrica is full of young people hungry for content that reflects their lives. If AI can help us meet that demand, let\u2019s make it accessible and affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session ended with a clear message: the future of kids\u2019 content will be shaped not just by algorithms, but by the values, ethics and imagination of the people behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the future of children\u2019s content and empower storytellers from underrepresented regions, said leading global creators who gathered at the 3rd annual Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC 2025) for a panel discussion \u2018The Future of Kids\u2019 Content and AI\u2019, on Thursday. Moderated by Mounia Aram, founder of the Mounia Aram […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3.jpg",1200,800,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3.jpg",1200,800,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3.jpg",1200,800,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3-755x420.jpg",755,420,true],"graptor-sq-xs":["https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-3-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Sharad Agarwal","author_link":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/author\/sharad\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"AI<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the future of children\u2019s content and empower storytellers from underrepresented regions, said leading global creators who gathered at the 3rd annual Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC 2025) for a panel discussion \u2018The Future of Kids\u2019 Content and AI\u2019, on Thursday. Moderated by Mounia Aram, founder of the Mounia Aram…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2520,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions\/2520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebluewhale.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}