AI in Africa. Preliminary Notes on Design and Adoption

Abstract

The Authors attempt to show how the proliferation of AI-led initiatives across Africa denotes a potential rebirth of modern forms of imperialism. Building on the concept of digital colonialism, we point to how the "for good" rhetoric in the AI arena might have provided the invisible platform for the appropriation of social life for cultural dominance and control. By exploring the subtle power relations underpinning the design and adoption of AI systems in Africa, this note amplifies Kate Crawford's claim that AI is "neither artificial nor intelligent" as widely presumed -one needs to identify the human social values behind and inside the machine.