Decolonisation of knowledge in the digital age
-
Abstract
Digital technology offers new opportunities to foster decolonial action related to the creation of knowledge. However, the underlying artificial intelligence systems of this technology still bear the marks of a colonial past and are themselves calling for decolonisation. Only the balanced use of the knowledge of the Global South and the Global North will contribute to the creation of multiple knowledge. In this article, the author presents the issues of knowledge decolonisation and then points out the necessity to epistemically reveal the colonising elements present in artificial intelligence.
Keywords
decolonisation of knowledge; digital age; artificial intelligence; multiplicity of knowledge
References
Afolabi O.S., 2020, Globalisation, decoloniality and the questionof knowledge production in Africa, „Journal of Higher Education in Africa”, vol. 18, no. 10, s. 93–109, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48618313 [dostęp: 05.04.2024].
Arun C., 2020, AI and the Global South: Designing for other worlds, in: M.D. Dubber, F. Pasquale, S. Das, eds., The Oxford handbook of AI, Oxford, Oxford Academic, s. 588–606, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190067397.013.38.
Baker S., 2022, The flawed claims about bias in facial recognition, „Lawfare”, 2 February, https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/flawed-claims-about-bias-facial-recognition [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Bonn M.J., 1932, Imperialism, in: E.R.A. Edwin, A. Johnson, eds., Encyclopaedia of the social sciences, vol. 7, New York, The Macmillan Company, s. 605–613, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460531/page/n627 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Bremer J., 2016a, Interdyscyplinarne znaczenie neuronauk, Kraków, Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie, Wydawnictwo WAM.
Bremer J., 2016b, Neuronaukowy i potoczny obraz osoby w kognitywistyce, Kraków, Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie, Wydawnictwo WAM.
Bucher T., 2018, If... then: Algorithmic power and politics, New York, Oxford Academic.
Campolo A., Crafword K., 2020, Enchanted determinism: Power without responsibility, „Artificial Intelligence, Engaging Science, Technology, and Society”, vol. 6, s. 1–19, https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2020.277.
Chawla D.S., 2022, AI system not yet ready to help peer reviewers assess research quality, „Nature”, 19 December, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04493-8 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Chukwunonso J.N., 2024, Digitalization in developing countries: Opportunities and challenges, „Nigerian Journal of Arts and Humanities”, vol. 4, no. 1, s. 1–11, https://nigerianjournalsonline.com/index.php/NJAH/article/view/4443 [dostęp: 11.04.2024]. Colonialism, 2005, in: Collins English dictionary, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/colonialism [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Crawford K., 2021, Atlas of AI: Power, politics, and the planetary costs of Artificial Intelligence, New Haven (CT), Yale University Press.
De Freitas M.V., 2023, The impact of Chinese investments in Africa: Neocolonialism or cooperation?, „Policy Brief ”, no. 30/23, s. 1–10, https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/ocpppaper/pb30-23.htm [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
De Sousa Santos B., 2016, Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide, New York, Routledge.
Dwivedi Y.K., Kshetri N., Hughes L., Slade E.L. [i in.], 2023, Opinion Paper: “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy, „International Journal of Information Management”, vol. 71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102642.
Fanon F., 1963, The wretched of the earth, New York, Grove Press 1963.
Fanon F., 1985, Wyklęty lud ziemi, przeł. H. Tygielska, Warszawa, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Fiormonte D., 2023, Technodiversity as the key to digital decolonization, „The UNESCO Courier”, no. 2, s. 38–41.
Gniniguè M., Wonyra K.O., Tchagnao A.-F., Bayale N., 2023, Participation of developing countries in global value chains: What role for information and communication technologies?, „Telecommunications Policy”, vol. 47, no. 3, 102508, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102508.
Gosepath S., 2023, The need for global philosophy, „Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy”, vol. 6, no. 1, s. 183–198, https://doi.org/10.1515/yewph-2023-0026.
Grosfoguel R., 2007, The epistemic decolonial turn: Beyond political-economy paradigms, „Cultural Studies”, vol. 21, no. 2–3, s. 211–223, https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162514.
Grosfoguel R., 2011, Decolonizing post-colonial studies and paradigms of political economy: Transmodernity, decolonial thinking, and global coloniality, „Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, UC Merced”, vol. 1, no. 1, http://escholarship.org/uc/item/21k6t3fq [dostęp: 05.07.2024].
Huillery E., 2009, The black man’s burden: The cost of colonization of French West Africa, „HAL Sciences Po”, hal-01066201, s. 1–34, https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-01066201 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Jarrahi M.H., Askay D., Eshraghi A., Smith P., 2023, Artificial intelligence and knowledge management: A partnership between human and AI, „Business Horizons”, vol. 66, no. 1, s. 87–99, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2022.03.002.
Jung M., 2023, Digital capitalism is a mine not a cloud: Exploring the extractivism at the root of the data economy, „Transnational Institute”, 10 February, https://www.tni.org/en/article/digital-capitalism-is-a-mine-not-a-cloud [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Kalter Ch., 2011, Die Entdeckung der Dritten Welt: Dekolonisierung und neue radikale Linke in Frankreich (Globalgeschichte, Bd. 9), Frankfurt am Main, Campus Verlag.
Kenny E., 2016, Phones mean lies: Secrets, sexuality, and the subjectivity of mobile phones in Tanzania,„Economic Anthropology”, vol. 3, no. 2, s. 254–265, https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12062.
Kittleson R., 2023, The independence of Latin America, „Encyclopaedia Britannica”, https://www.britannica.com/place/Latin-America/The-independence-of-Latin-America [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Klose F., 2014, Dekolonisation und Revolution, „Europäische Geschichte Online”, http://ieg-ego.eu/de/threads/europa-und-die-welt/herrschaft/fabian-klose--dekolonisation-und-revolution [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Lengsfeld J., 2019, Digital era framework. Ein Bezugsrahmen für das Digitale Informationszeitalter, Bad Waldsee, https://joernlengsfeld.com/url/digital-era-framework-en [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Mbembe A., 2015, Decolonizing knowledge and the question of the archive, „Platform for Experimental, Collaborative Ethnography”, 14 August, https://worldpece.org/content/mbembe-achille-2015-%E2%80%9Cdecolonizing-knowledge-and-question-archive%E2%80%9D-africa-country [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Mbembe A., 2016, Africa in the new century, „The Massachusetts Review”, vol. 57, no. 1, s. 91–104, https://doi.org/10.1353/mar.2016.0031.
Mbembe A., 2020, Meditation on the second creation, „e-flux Journal”, no. 114, December, https://www.e-flux.com/journal/114/364960/meditation-on-the-second-creation/ [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Mbembe A., 2021, Out of the dark night: Essays on decolonization, New York, Columbia University Press.
Mbembe A., 2022, The earthly community: Reflections on the last utopia, Rotterdam, V2 Publishing.
Mbembe A., 2024, Brutalism, Durham–London, Duke University Press.
McKinsey Global Institute, 2016, Digital globalization: The new era of global flows, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/digital-globalization-the-new-era-of-global-flows [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Mignolo W., 2002, The geopolitics of knowledge and the colonial difference, „The South Atlantic Quarterly”, 2002, vol. 101, no. 1, s. 57–96, https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-101-1-57.
Mignolo W., 2011, The darker side of western modernity: Global futures, decolonial options, Durham–London, Duke University Press.
Mignolo W., Walsh C., 2018, On decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis, Durham (NC), Duke University Press.
Mlambo V.H., Masuku M.M., Mthembu Z., 2024, The new scramble for Africa in a post-colonial era and the challenges of inclusive development: A semi-systematic literature review, „Development Studies Research”, vol. 11, no. 1, art. 2306387, https://doi.org/10.1080/21665095.2024.2306387.
Mollema W.J.T., 2024, Decolonial AI as disenclosure, „Open Journal of Social Sciences”, vol. 12, s. 574–603, https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2024.122032.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni S.J., 2019, Discourses of decolonization/decoloniality, „Papers on Language and Literature”, vol. 55, no. 3, s. 201–226.
Newton J., 2023, Voices of hope and alarm: Leading experts consider the implications of AI, „UCLA Blueprint”, https://blueprint.ucla.edu/feature/voices-of-hope-and-alarm/ [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Pereboom M.L., 2008, Decolonization, in: P.N. Stearns, ed., The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world, vol. 2, Oxford, Oxford University Press, s. 428–430, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195176322.001.0001/acref-9780195176322-e-421 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Pereira M.D.M., 2016, Struggling within and beyond the Performative University: Articulating activism and work in an “academia without walls”, „Women’s Studies International Forum”, vol. 54, s. 100–110, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2015.06.008.
Quijano A., 1998, La colonialidad del poder y la experiencia cultural latinoamericana, in: R. Briceño-León, H.R. Sonntag, eds., Pueblo, época y desarrollo: la sociología de América Latina, Caracas, Nueva Sociedad, s. 139–155.
Rachovitsa A., Johann N., 2022, The human rights implications of the use of AI in the digital welfare state: Lessons learned from the Dutch SyRI case, „Human Rights Law Review”, vol. 22, no. 2, ngac010, https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngac010.
Ricaurte P., 2022, Ethics for the majority world: AI and the question of violence at scale, „Media, Culture & Society”, vol. 44, no. 4, s. 726–745, https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221099612.
Rodrígez García J.M., 2001, Scientia potestas est – knowledge is power: Francis Bacon to Michel Foucault, „Neohelicon”, vol. 28, s. 109–121, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011901104984.
Runge T., 2020, Postdigital: Wie wir Künstliche Intelligenz schlauer machen, ohne uns von ihr bevormunden zu lassen, Hamburg, Murmann Publishers.
Schöneberg J., Narayanaswamy L., 2024, (Un)Doing performative decolonisation in the global development “imaginaries” of academia, „TC Thinkers. Global Discourse”, vol. 20, no. 20, s. 1–25, https://doi.org/10.1332/20437897Y2023D000000010.
Shankar S., 2001, Decolonization, in: J.C. Hawley, ed., Encyclopedia of postcolonial studies, Westport (CT)–London, Greenwood Press, s. 131–139.
Smith T., 2001, Decolonization, in: J. Krieger, ed., The Oxford companion to the politics of the World, Oxford, Oxford University Press, s. 193–194, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195117394.001.0001/acref-9780195117394-e-0179 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
The World Bank, 2018, Connecting for inclusion: Broadband access for all, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/digitaldevelopment/brief/connecting-for-inclusion-broadbandaccess-for-all [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Thomas D., 2019, What is digital age, „Ventiv”, 22 August, https://www.ventivtech.com/blog/what-is-the-digital-age [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Thomas D., Wilson C.L., 2024, Imperial algorithms: Contemporary manifestations of racism and colonialism, „American Journal of Community Psychology”, vol. 73, no. 1–2, s. 7–16, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12744.
Venkatasawmy R., 2015, Ethnic conflict in Africa: A short critical discussion, „Transcience”, vol. 6, no. 2, s. 26–37, http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1330910 [dostęp: 11.04.2024].
Watson D.C., 2023, Rethinking inter-communal violence in Africa, „Civil Wars”, s. 1–30, https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2023.2180924.
Ignatianum University in Cracow Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9664-8896
Prof. dr hab. Józef Bremer, Uniwersytet Ignatianum w Krakowie, filozof i kognitywista. Publikacje: The pilgrim’s identity in liquid modernity, „Perspektywy Kultury” 2023, vol. 41, no. 2/1, s. 321–339; The Turing test, or a misuse of language when ascribing mental qualities to machines, „Forum Philosophicum” 2022, vol. 27, no. 1, s. 6–25 (współautor M. Flasiński); Wittgenstein’s tractatus as poetic philosophy and philosophical poetics, „Poetics Today” 2021, no 42 (4), s. 519–540 (https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-9356837); Wittgenstein’s remarks concerning the accessibility of foreign cultures, „Wittgenstein-Studien”, 2017, vol. 8, no. 1, s. 159–184.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Copyright Owners of the submitted texts grant the Reader the right to use the pdf documents under the provisions of the Creative Commons 4.0 International License: Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY SA). The user can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose.
1. License
The University of Silesia Press provides immediate open access to journal’s content under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Authors who publish with this journal retain all copyrights and agree to the terms of the above-mentioned CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
2. Author’s Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by stated author/s, has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author/s.
If the article contains illustrative material (drawings, photos, graphs, maps), the author declares that the said works are of his authorship, they do not infringe the rights of the third party (including personal rights, i.a. the authorization to reproduce physical likeness) and the author holds exclusive proprietary copyrights. The author publishes the above works as part of the article under the licence "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International".
ATTENTION! When the legal situation of the illustrative material has not been determined and the necessary consent has not been granted by the proprietary copyrights holders, the submitted material will not be accepted for editorial process. At the same time the author takes full responsibility for providing false data (this also regards covering the costs incurred by the University of Silesia Press and financial claims of the third party).
3. User Rights
Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, the users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) the article for any purpose, provided they attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor.
4. Co-Authorship
If the article was prepared jointly with other authors, the signatory of this form warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to sign this agreement on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this agreement.
I hereby declare that in the event of withdrawal of the text from the publishing process or submitting it to another publisher without agreement from the editorial office, I agree to cover all costs incurred by the University of Silesia in connection with my application.