AI Can Assist, But Not Replace: SKN Carnival Introduces AI Guidelines to Protect Creative Integrity in Soca and Calypso Competitions
The St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival Committee (SKNNCC) has introduced guidelines governing the use of artificial intelligence in its Soca Monarch, Road March and Calypso Monarch competitions, drawing a line between the use of AI as a creative aid and allowing the technology to replace the work of artistes and other creatives.
Under the guidelines, AI-assisted technology will be permitted in the Soca Monarch and Road March competitions, but AI-generated creative content will be limited to no more than 20 percent. Fully AI-generated songs will not be permitted, nor will AI-generated or cloned vocals.
Similar provisions have been outlined for the Junior and Senior Calypso Monarch competitions, where AI may be used as an assistance tool during the creative process. However, its contribution to the creative content of a song must not exceed 20 percent.
The Carnival Committee stressed that entries should continue to reflect the creativity and talent of the calypsonian, as well as the contributions of the other creatives involved in producing the work.
The move comes as generative AI tools become increasingly accessible to musicians, writers and other creative professionals, raising new questions globally about authorship, originality and the role of human creativity.
For Carnival, those questions carry particular significance. Soca and calypso are not only forms of entertainment but important vehicles for Caribbean storytelling and cultural expression. Calypso, in particular, has long provided a platform for social commentary, humour, political observation and the documentation of Caribbean life.
The new rules do not prohibit artistes from using AI altogether. Instead, they establish a distinction between AI-assisted creation and AI-generated content, allowing the technology to support the creative process while requiring the overwhelming majority of the finished work to remain human-created.
The prohibition on cloned and AI-generated vocals in the Soca Monarch and Road March categories also addresses another rapidly developing area of generative technology—the ability to synthetically reproduce or imitate human voices.
The guidelines represent an early attempt by the SKNNCC to establish boundaries around emerging technology while maintaining space for creatives to incorporate new tools into their work.
However, the introduction of a 20 percent threshold may also raise practical questions about implementation, including how AI-generated contributions will be identified and measured and what information, if any, competitors may be required to disclose about their use of AI. The published graphic does not provide details on how the percentage will be calculated or how compliance will be assessed.
As artificial intelligence becomes more deeply integrated into creative industries, those questions are likely to become increasingly important for cultural competitions across the Caribbean.
For now, the SKNNCC’s position is clear: AI can assist the creative process, but it cannot replace the creativity and talent at the heart of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Carnival traditions.
