Data Flows and Colonial Regimes in Africa: A Critical Analysis of the Colonial Futurities Embedded in AI Ecosystems

TL;DR

This paper critically examines how AI and big data in Africa are intertwined with colonial power structures, potentially reinforcing colonialism and gender norms, and discusses alternative socio-material approaches for sustainable development.

Contribution

It offers a critical analysis of the colonial influences embedded in AI ecosystems in Africa, based on empirical observations and discussions with Kenyan social media users.

Findings

AI recommendation algorithms can reinforce colonial and gender norms.

Digital sites in Africa are used to recreate new digital societies.

Proposes alternative socio-material AI models for sustainable development.

Abstract

This chapter seeks to frame the elemental and invisible problems of AI and big data in the African context by examining digital sites and infrastructure through the lens of power and interests. It will present reflections on how these sites are using AI recommendation algorithms to recreate new digital societies in the region, how they have the potential to propagate algorithmic colonialism and negative gender norms, and what this means for the regional sustainable development agenda. The chapter proposes adopting business models that embrace response-ability and consider the existence of alternative socio-material worlds of AI. These reflections will mainly come from ongoing discussions with Kenyan social media users in this authors' user space talks, personal experiences and six months of active participant observations done by the authors.