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We need a decolonized appropriation of AI in Africa

Nature Human Behaviour volume 7, pages 1810–1811 (2023)Cite this article

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Technocoloniality is when the use of technology in a particular way causes a colonial way of thinking that seeks to exert power, control and domination, often to replicate colonial patterns of oppression. For example, digital technologies — such as the internet and mobile telephones — and the process of colonialism can be understood as historically intertwined. The integration of and dependency on digital technologies has spread from the West and been imposed on other states — in the African continent in particular. A recent example of this can be seen in the mobile app ‘Free Basics’, developed by Facebook. The app allows users to access a small selection of websites without paying for data, but many of the freely accessible sites are promoting the services of private US companies and are unavailable in major African languages. The app has been heavily criticized as a vehicle of digital colonialism2.

Technocoloniality is active in every corner of the globe, whether you are in the West or elsewhere. But in Africa, technocoloniality is exacerbated owing to its heavy historical past surrounded by colonization. However, it should be made clear that I am not intending to play the card of victimization, blaming the Global North for all Africa’s problems. Rather, I am calling for a decolonized appropriation of AI that leads to the domestication of its potential. The first step in this approach is to identify the dynamics of technocoloniality that is inherent in AI.

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References

  1. Mboa Nkoudou, T. H. Les Makerspaces en Afrique Francophone, Entre Développement Local Durable et Technocolonialité: Trois Études de Cas au Burkina Faso, au Cameroun et au Sénégal. Doctoral thesis, Université Laval (2020).

  2. Solon, O. ‘It’s digital colonialism’: how Facebook’s free internet service has failed its users. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/27/facebook-free-basics-developing-markets (27 July 2017).

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  1. International Center of Expertise in Montreal on Artificial Intelligence (CEIMIA), Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou

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  1. Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou
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Correspondence to Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou.

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Mboa Nkoudou, T.H. We need a decolonized appropriation of AI in Africa. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1810–1811 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01741-3

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