Decolonizing Algorithms: Analyzing the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Postcolonial Identities and Resistance

Abstract

One important aspect of scholarship that interrogates dominant understandings of power, of identity, and of technology is the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and postcolonial studies. While AI systems are sometimes viewed as neutral tools, they are, in fact, biased implementations of the ideologies of the designers, as well as of the historic logics of colonialism and globalization. This work examines the ways in which AI may drive the contemporary cultural and sociopolitical constitutions of colonialism. Through the study of postcolonial contexts, the use of AI examines how technology may perpetuate hegemonic systems or enable the decolonization of dominant systems by providing tools for self-determination and proportional representation.

Recent works by authors such as Ruha Benjamin, “Race After Technology” (2019) and Safiya Umoja Noble, “Algorithms of Oppression” (2018) examine the intersections of AI with colonial, gender and racial relations, demonstrating the necessity of incorporating a broader set of perspectives for technological progress. These works emphasize the intricacies of algorithmic bias and the enduring necessity of moral accountability in addressing injustices of the past. Benjamin advocates for a postcolonial approach to AI, arguing that technology must be a means of social oppression and outlining how such a vision can enable us to understand social relations of power, resistance and contestation in our highly digitized world.