AI - A Global South perspective

The last couple of weeks have been mostly contained to “in real life,” things, with a diminished interest in any form of online engagement — especially writing. I honestly did not know if I wanted to post this because some days, there is a part of me that feels like I am pouring words into a void that will take ownership of my expressions and remix into infinity. And so, I’ve been taking in, saturating myself with, and immersing in real-life experiences, in part, as an afront to the tech-times of feeding the machine. But, I expect this is our new normal.

Shortly, again in real life, I will prepare for an oral defense on AI, Identity and Characterization. And to be honest, I am not sure what new valuation that brings in the context of our times. But what has been abundantly clear to me is that the conversation around AI, however prevalent it may seem, is happening in a Global North vacuum, with Global North values and with little representation of most of the world’s populations, the Global South, of which comprises much of the world’s black and brown populations.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend one of the most transformational conferences of my life — The Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) conference — now in its 50th year but the 48th in-person meet up for conferencing. I presented a slice of my academic work, contextualized as “Navigating the Digital Wave: Safeguarding Caribbean Identity in the Age of AI & Emergent Technology.”

My presentation focus, referenced at my earlier talk at MIT, focused on the Caribbean and CARICOM in general. For the uninitiated, CARICOM stands for Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It is an organization of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies, established in 1973 to promote economic integration and cooperation among its island member states. Not unlike the European Union, CARICOM’s primary objectives include creating a single market and economy to enhance trade, investment, and the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labour.

It also aims to harmonize foreign policies, strengthen international influence, and foster functional cooperation in sectors such as health, education, culture, and transportation.

Most pressingly, by addressing issues like poverty, unemployment, and social inequality, CARICOM seeks to advance human and social development, emphasizing sustainable development and climate resilience, while nurturing a strong sense of regional identity and community.

Given this, my presentation was focused on varying elements of how AI and other emergent technologies impact our collective identities through centring the CARICOM nations in this growing and noisy discourse.

My own perspective is informed by our colonial past and without a doubt, we see a space of world building by the Global North that once again sees new strands of digital colonization. This is also a topic I will be exploring with colleagues at a future conference and a term I refer to as Digi-Eugenics, questioning this “techno-utopia” that to many is nothing short of digital oppression as viewed critically through the Global South lens, where much of the worlds black and brown people reside.

Public discourse, particularly concerning the marginalization and displacement of black voices, perpetuates a legacy rooted in outdated eugenics ideologies. The future can be a repeat of olden times of a colonized world where only a few — mostly white males — decide to create their vision of a future that benefits mainly themselves at the expense of sapping the world of specializations — automated, for gain.

It is my belief that we need new emergent “digi-eugenics” tools of resistance to combat big tech data that situates the tech megalodons at the helm of a dystopian panopticon, recreating analogue biases, infringing on the remaining privacies, and evading transparencies and accountability.

This continues to empower a small class, while concurrently disempowering already marginalized black voices, as well as others, if talking about the haves and have nots.

Other scholars like Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres have written about in their seminal essay, “The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence.” I ally with their work though from a different discipline.

For the record, my work is positioned at the intersection of computational rhetoric, offering a critical examination of the societal impacts of technological systems. It provides temporally situated and contextual insights to challenge prevailing narratives and promote ethical practices.

Habor Club Saint Lucia - CSA 2024

The aim is to advocate for a digital future that upholds human dignity and agency while addressing and rectifying the distortions of white imperialism in algorithmic eugenics programming. This work transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries to meet social needs and is committed to empowering marginalized peoples.

This blog post reflects on that experience — at the intersection of AI and the dialogue in the Global South and also why we need to be mindful of the hyperreal affect and effect of the Global North AI dialogue.

In deep conversation with my friend and mentor-in-my-head, Michael Dila, a retired professor from the University of Toronto, Canada and founder of the organization Oslo for AI, we bantered about how to we contain this dialogue with stakeholders in the Global South context. His academic background in Epistemology, Legal Theory, History & Philosophy of Science, always leaves me thinking, if not triggered, in the traditional sense. So, it was to him that I turned to ask advise on AI related topics — and I am not talking about AI, ala Silicon valley, but AI for the rest of humanity. So much still to be processed but the conversations are ongoing.

I must admit that while much of the world, particularly the Global North, has surged ahead on an AI-driven trajectory, those of us from the Global South are just putting on our socks and shoes, ready to line up for the race. Some may see this as a disadvantage, but in my view, sometimes those who finish second run the race more optimally.

What may seem like a race at times may be a guide to caution for those who follow.

In that vein, the events of the last month has spurred deep interest in the upcoming summit AI Global South Summit, held this year, again on the beautiful island of St. Lucia. The goal is to begin the dialogue towards a contextually based conversation, in dialogue with the Global North. I appreciate that a Global South dialogue cannot happen in the Global South alone.

As with every technological wave, there is a resurgence of hope triggered by AI and other emerging technologies. The million-dollar question remains, can these new technologies offer a pathway to economic growth and advancement for the Global South, in a way not seen previously?