Semiotic of Artificial Intelligence Presentations: Supernatural and Mythological Depictions in Yorùbá Christian Film Àbè̩joyè

Abstract

Mythology and the supernatural are deeply intertwined, offering a rich tapestry of beliefs and stories across cultures. Mythology is a powerful tool for understanding human culture, beliefs, and the enduring fascination with the supernatural. The film, ‘Àbè̩joyè’ is a Christian film with the purpose of promoting Christian values and propagating the essence of the religion. This study, therefore, attempts to analyze the film through the artificial intelligence-generated images and sounds to communicate meaning in the context of supernatural and mythological elements in the film, based on the cultural aspect of semiotics as the adopted theory. While semiotics is the study of signs, cultural semiotics is its subdiscipline that has culture as its subject. The inclusion of artificial intelligence to the filmic presentations, therefore, tends to transform and remodel filmmaking processes and hereby nurtures creativity and efficiency. The film selected was analyzed, and the supernatural and mythological characters and events were identified. It was observed that the image generations through Artificial Intelligence influence the presentation and interpretation of the supernatural and the mythological elements, it fosters the alignment with Christian doctrine and culture and also establishes the accomplishment of the propagandist effect and the purpose of Christian films. Conclusively, by analyzing the film presented with Artificial Intelligence functions through the lens of cultural semiotics, we can gain a deeper understanding of its impact and message within the context of Christian doctrine.