Artificial Intelligence, Indigenous Knowledge, and Traditional Music in Ghana: Opportunities and Challenges for Composition and Cultural Heritage Preservation

Despite growing AI applications in music, it remains unclear how AI can support Ghanaian traditional music without compromising Indigenous knowledge, cultural continuity, and human creativity. This matters because traditional music preserves cultural identity, memory, and intergenerational knowledge. Using a qualitative descriptive design, this study explores the perceptions of five experienced Ghanaian practitioners regarding AI in music composition and heritage preservation. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire administered via Google Forms, with participants’ responses examined to identify recurring perceptions and concerns. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and Progressive Traditionalism, the findings indicate that practitioners viewed AI as potentially useful for documentation, archiving, and preservation. The responses also emphasised that AI should complement rather than replace human creativity, oral traditions, and community-based systems of knowledge transmission. Key challenges identified include the limited representation of African traditional music in AI training datasets (Mehta et al., 2025), concerns about authenticity and copyright, and the need for culturally responsive AI governance. The study argues that the sustainable adoption of AI in African traditional music requires an approach that integrates technological innovation with Indigenous epistemologies and ethical stewardship. It concludes that AI should function as a collaborative infrastructure for cultural continuity rather than a substitute for the musicians and communities that sustain traditional musical heritage.