Abstract
This paper examines the evolving
role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the linguistic stylistic analysis of
Nnamdi Kanu’s last trial speech with Justice James Omotosho, focusing on the
intersection of traditional stylistic theory and emerging digital linguistic
methodologies. Stylistics, as a linguistic discipline, aims to explain how
language constructs meaning, emotion, and ideology. In political and forensic
contexts, stylistic analysis can reveal underlying power relations, identity
constructions, and persuasive strategies. This paper provides a descriptive,
interpretive exploration of how AI can support, refine, and augment traditional
stylistic analysis without replacing human critical judgment. It, therefore,
examines the stylistic features of Kanu’s speech, focusing on diction, syntax,
cohesion, and rhetorical force. The findings show that AI-assisted stylistic
methods enhance objectivity, pattern recognition, and interpretive precision,
while also revealing the linguistic construction of defiance, resistance, and
self-representation in courtroom proceedings. The study concludes that AI does
not replace human interpretive judgment but augments stylistic inquiry by
uncovering latent textual patterns that reinforce the speaker’s ideological
stance.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Stylistics, and Courtroom Proceedings
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2026.v01i02.028
author/Nmadumelu Obi & Balogun Sarah
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(2) | June 2026
