Online Reporter
Maria Chiguvari
Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub
MISS Grand Zimbabwe, Rose Chihera, believes Artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative space has not replaced creativity but instead dismantled long-standing barriers in the industry.
As a beauty queen, who has also used the AI tool to edit pictures, Chihera challenged the common perception that AI is a threat to authenticity.
The model described it as a tool that has quietly been part of everyday digital experiences for years.
Rose, who won the Miss Grand title last year, believes that if one uses any filter to edit pictures, they have used AI already.
“Conversation around AI is funny to me because where exactly do we think the line is?
“If you’ve ever used a filter on Instagram or Snapchat, if you’ve ever smoothed your skin, adjusted lighting, blurred a background, or enhanced a photo using editing software you’ve already been using AI.”
“The difference isn’t if you’re using AI. It’s how you’re using it,” she said.
Drawing a comparison to traditional media production, Chihera highlighted how content creation once required significant financial and professional resources.
“Before, you needed a full team of photographers, retouchers, studio time. “Magazines charged hundreds, sometimes thousands, to create the kind of visuals we now produce from our phones in minutes.
“The tools are in your hands.
“The same way filters once felt ‘new’ and controversial, AI-generated and AI-enhanced visuals are just the next evolution.
“And most people don’t even realise they’re already part of it,” she said.
For the beauty queen, the debate should not centre on what is “fake” or “real,” but rather on how individuals choose to present themselves in a digital world.
“It’s not about fake versus real. It’s about understanding the tools, owning your image, and deciding how you want to show up,” she said.
Chihera also encouraged young creatives, influencers, and entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe to embrace the technology early, suggesting that those who adapt quickly will have a competitive edge.
“Because the truth is the people who learn this now? They’re the ones who are going to stand out later,” she said.
Arts creative Plot Mhako said the conversation around AI is one defined by contradiction.
He believes music must stay rooted in human experience and also feels the rules are not keeping up.
“I think it’s both exciting and unsettling at the same time. On one hand, AI opens up incredible possibilities for creativity. It can speed up production, spark new ideas, and even help artists experiment in ways that weren’t possible before. In that sense, it can be a powerful collaborator.
“But on the other hand, it becomes uncomfortable when it starts to blur identity especially when it mimics voices or styles that are deeply personal and rooted in lived experience.
“Art isn’t just output, it’s emotion, culture, struggle, and story.
“When AI replicates that without context or consent, it feels like something sacred is being diluted. So I see it as a tool but one that needs boundaries and intention,” he said.
