AI-GENERATED STORYTELLING AND YOUNG AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGNS AND ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS IN PORT HARCOURT

Abstract

The increasing adoption of AI in health communication has created opportunities for producing personalized, interactive, and engaging campaign messages while raising concerns about credibility, transparency, privacy, accountability, and misinformation. Hence, this study examined the influence of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated storytelling on young audience engagement in public health campaigns and evaluated its ethical implications in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive qualitative survey design using in-depth semi-structured interviews. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select 20 young residents of Port Harcourt aged 18–35 years who had prior exposure to AI-generated public health messages. Data were collected through audio-recorded interviews and analysed using thematic analysis alongside the explanation-building technique. The findings revealed that AI-generated storytelling positively influenced young audience engagement by attracting attention, improving comprehension of health information, fostering emotional connection, and encouraging participation in health-related discussions and activities. The study also established that the level of engagement with AI-generated public health stories was high because the messages were visually appealing, relevant, interactive, and easily accessible through digital platforms. Furthermore, the findings showed that ethical considerations, including transparency, credibility, privacy protection, fairness, accountability, and accuracy, significantly shaped audience trust, message acceptance, and the overall effectiveness of AI-generated health campaigns. The study concluded that AI-generated storytelling is an effective public health communication strategy when supported by strong ethical standards. It recommended the integration of AI storytelling into health campaigns and the enforcement of ethical guidelines by relevant government and regulatory agencies to ensure responsible, credible, and effective public health communication.