*NLNG celebrates literary, medical, ingenious excellence at 2026 awards evening
Sunday Ehigiator
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, the day past warned scientists and generation builders in opposition to permitting synthetic intelligence (AI) to erode human creativity and creativeness, urging them to ascertain barriers that may save you machines from taking on very important sides of human life.
Soyinka gave the caution on the 2026 Nigerian Prize Awards Evening organised by way of Nigeria Liquefied Herbal Gasoline Restricted (NLNG) held in Lagos, the place the theme was once Heritage.
He described the danger posed by way of AI as actual, regardless of its huge possible to advance human growth, caution that over the top reliance at the generation may undermine humanity’s capability for impartial concept and artistic expression.
“The threat that AI constitutes, regardless of the fascination with this unbelievable facilitator for human growth, the threat is an overly actual one,” he mentioned.
The playwright suggested scientists, physicists and technologists to recognise the boundaries of AI, in particular in ingenious fields comparable to literature, the place human creativeness and private expression stay basic.
“When AI starts to jot down our thesis, to jot down our poetry, or to say that they’re writing our poetry for us, there’s threat. That suggests we’re being dehumanised,” Soyinka mentioned.
He warned that permitting machines to accomplish duties that require human creativeness may steadily weaken other folks’s ingenious skills.
“We’re permitting our creativeness to atrophy,” he added.
The Nobel laureate expressed fear that AI may ultimately growth past aiding people with regimen duties to making virtual clones of writers and different ingenious execs able to imitating their gestures and personalities.
He mentioned such trends would carry critical questions concerning the preservation of human identification and the authenticity of ingenious works.
“Whilst you start to see a clone of a creator, a clone of the prize winner, on the net, masquerading, imitating gestures which you concept may simplest be made by way of human beings, then there’s an actual downside,” he mentioned.
Soyinka, then again, said the functions of machines, stressing that his place was once now not an try to halt technological development however to be sure that growth didn’t come on the expense of humanity.
“Machines can’t create for us. They may be able to create, they are able to measure, however they can’t substitute humanity,” he mentioned.
He known as for a synthesis of science and the arts, arguing that the philosophy of creativity must information the advance and alertness of man-made intelligence.
“So, I attraction to all of you, please humanise machines. No longer let machines machinise humanity,” he mentioned.
Soyinka additionally suggested NLNG to imagine introducing a unique comfort prize to recognise and offer protection to human creativity within the face of the rising affect of man-made intelligence.
He mentioned the arts had a very powerful function to play in serving to society determine moral barriers for rising applied sciences, including that the connection between science and the arts must be constructed on mutual recognize and collaboration.
Explaining the relationship between the 2 disciplines, Soyinka argued that medical breakthroughs additionally trusted creativeness, noting that researchers required imaginative and prescient to interpret info, expand theories and adopt calculations.
“Actually, if you haven’t any creativeness initially, you are going to now not translate info, figures, metallurgy, bodily sciences, with out creativeness, you are going to now not even start to do your calculations. You need to have a imaginative and prescient initially,” he mentioned.
He counseled NLNG for bringing literary, medical and artistic communities in combination thru its awards, describing the initiative as a possibility to increase the limits of creativeness and inspire collaboration throughout disciplines.
Previous, the Managing Director and Leader Government Officer of NLNG, Adeleye Falade, mentioned the corporate’s awards had grow to be essential platforms for selling excellence in Nigeria’s literary and medical communities.
Falade mentioned this 12 months’s theme mirrored the duty to keep the country’s achievements, support its values and go on alternatives to long term generations.
“Heritage isn’t simply a file of our previous. It’s the legacy we keep, support and go on. It’s mirrored within the values we uphold, the achievements we rejoice and the alternatives that we create for long term generations,” he mentioned.
He defined that NLNG’s dedication to the awards was once rooted in its trust that recognising excellence in literature, science and the ingenious arts may give a contribution to nationwide building and encourage long term generations.
In step with him, the Nigerian Prize for Science and Innovation has recognised contributions in crucial fields, together with well being, agriculture, engineering, power, generation, local weather resilience and sustainable building.
He mentioned the prize had celebrated scientists whose paintings prolonged past laboratories and analysis papers to offer sensible answers able to making improvements to lives.
Falade famous that the paintings of this 12 months’s science prize winner, involved in synthetic intelligence and knowledge generation, had the prospective to turn into lives in Nigeria and internationally.
He added that the Nigerian Prize for Literature had grown into certainly one of Africa’s maximum prestigious literary honours, offering a platform for remarkable writers and contributing to international conversations on identification, resilience and shared humanity.
The NLNG leader government mentioned the affect of the awards prolonged past particular person winners, as their achievements changed into a part of Nigeria’s highbrow heritage.
“Every successful paintings turns into a part of our nationwide highbrow heritage, reinforcing values and retaining tales, discoveries and concepts that may proceed to encourage long term generations,” he added.
Falade additionally highlighted the advent of the Nigerian Prize for Inventive Arts, which was once offered for the primary time at this 12 months’s rite following its release the former 12 months.
He mentioned the prize was once designed to recognise originality, authenticity and artistic excellence throughout inventive fields, together with song, movie, visible arts, model and theatre.
In step with him, the initiative would rejoice artists who keep Nigeria’s cultural heritage whilst reimagining it for a brand new era.
“From Lagos to London, from Abuja to Atlanta, from Port Harcourt to Paris, Nigerian creativity speaks a language the sector understands,” he mentioned.
Falade congratulated the finalists and winners, describing their achievements as proof of the self-discipline, willpower and perseverance required to score excellence.
He mentioned the NLNG would proceed to fortify tasks that recognise ability, advertise innovation and support Nigeria’s contribution to international literary, medical and artistic communities.
The awards evening introduced in combination contributors of the diplomatic corps, executive officers, business leaders, teachers, judges, scientists, writers, ingenious execs and former laureates to rejoice remarkable achievements underneath the theme of heritage.