The Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) is drafting a policy to limit and regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in music for Vincymas, amid concerns that unchecked reliance on the technology could erode the cultural authenticity of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ premier festival.
CDC Chairman Ricardo Adams told a press conference on the state of readiness for Vincy Mas 2026 that organisers have already detected AI‑generated songs among this year’s releases and are now moving to set clear boundaries on how the technology can be used.
“We’ve had a very robust discussion on the introduction of AI into our creative space, and we recognise that there is a place for AI,” Adams said at the press conference in Kingstown.
“I’m not going to say that AI, we should ignore it, and we should completely eliminate it. But AI cannot become your creative juice. AI can help you refine your creation, but it cannot become your creative juice,” he said.
Adams presented the issue not as a rejection of technology, but as a defence of human creativity and cultural ownership in a festival rooted in the traditions of the southern Caribbean.
AI‑generated songs already in the mix
Adams disclosed that the CDC has identified songs in this year’s Vincymas output that its checks show were produced by artificial intelligence.
He said the CDC is “working actively on a policy” to address this trend and has begun discussing with the artistes “that limits the amount of AI and how you can use AI in your music,” Adams told the press briefing.
The aim, he stressed, is to preserve the “passion and energy” that define Vincymas as a cultural expression.
“Otherwise, again, we’ll all be jumping up to metadata‑created music with no input of the passion and the energy and the culture of what is Vincy Mas,” Adams warned.
He did not disclose specific thresholds or rules under consideration, but his comments signal that formal guidelines are likely to apply to future competitions and performances under the CDC’s umbrella.
Protecting a southern Caribbean creation
Adams linked the AI debate to a broader concern that Caribbean people could lose control of an art form they created if they become mere consumers of content made elsewhere.
He reminded the audience that key elements of carnival culture — pan, mas design and soca music — originated in, and are still largely driven by, the southern Caribbean.
Beyond fetes: culture versus convenience
The CDC chairman presented the AI question as a larger concern that Vincymas could drift away from its cultural roots and become a purely commercial sequence of high‑priced parties, driven by convenience and volume rather than art.
In that context, he portrayed AI‑generated music as another shortcut that could hollow out the festival’s artistic content if left unregulated.
The CDC’s emerging policy, therefore, seeks to balance innovation with preservation, allowing AI as a tool for editing or enhancement, while insisting that the core creative work — melody, lyrics, performance — remains human and rooted in local experience.
Artistes in the loop: policy already under discussion
Adams made it clear that the CDC was not acting unilaterally but was engaging with artists as it shapes the rules.
He, however, did outline specific measures at the press conference.
Creativity, economy, and the ‘Road to 50’
The debate over AI in Vincy Mas comes as the CDC is also pushing for a formal economic analysis of the festival’s impact and preparing for the 50th anniversary of the June–July carnival format.
Adams reminded stakeholders that Vincymas is both a cultural expression and a creative industry, “which means that we have to do some business analysis where that is concerned,” he said, renewing his appeal for an economic study of the festival.
Next year, Vincy Mas will mark 50 years since the shift from pre‑Lenten carnival to the current schedule, a milestone the CDC has branded the “Road to 50”.
Adams said protecting the authenticity of the music and culture now — including through responsible use of AI — is essential to presenting a credible product for that golden anniversary and beyond.
“The best way to promote [next year] is to ensure that when people come here this year, we give them a safe festival, we let them experience the warmth and the energy that is St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Vincymas,” he said.
A festival at the crossroads of culture, code
The CDC’s move to regulate AI sets Vincy Mas among a growing number of festivals and creative industries worldwide grappling with how far artificial intelligence should be allowed to reshape music and art.
For Adams, the answer lies not in resisting technology outright, but in asserting the primacy of human creators and local culture.