Artificial Intelligence as Worldmaking: Colonial Dimensions and Planetary Futures

FLTR: Jantina de Vries, Michael Kwet, Everisto Benyera, Scott Timcke, Anye Nyamnjoh, Liza Cirolia, Melody Musoni, Paola Ricaurte-Quijano, Divine Fuh, Catriona Gray, Sebastián Lehuedé, Yousif Hassan, Francis Nyamnjoh, Allen Munoriyarwa, Donna Andrews | Photo: Lebogang Montewa

The retreat, "Artificial Intelligence as Worldmaking: Colonial Dimensions and Planetary Futures," hosted by EthicsLab from 28 - 30 October 2024, at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, brought together scholars from Africa and Latin America to explore the idea of AI as a force of worldmaking. Rather than viewing AI as a neutral tool, participants engaged with the concept of AI as a complex assemblage—an interwoven structure of institutions, values, ideologies, interests, techniques, and infrastructures—that shapes and organizes social, political, and economic realities on a planetary scale. This view of AI positions it as an active shaper of new ways of living, interacting, and understanding the world.

The retreat sessions were structured to encourage dynamic and layered conversations, moving between plenary discussions, roundtables, and small group discussions. Over three days, participants:

Explored the meaning and implications of AI as a socio-political force, raising questions about its role in the political economies of Africa and Latin America.
Examined the state of AI ethics in their respective regions, highlighting key trends, gaps, and emergent debates in African and Latin American AI discourse.
Critically interrogated the conditions under which AI contains emancipatory possibilities or merely reinforces existing inequities.
Reflected on the material realities supporting AI—such as data centres and global supply chains—uncovering the often-overlooked infrastructures that underpin AI’s worldmaking role.
Shared theoretical and practical strategies for countering harmful AI ecosystems and considered solidaristic opportunities for reimagining technological futures that could bridge Africa and Latin America’s shared and distinct concerns.

The retreat resulted in an emergent network of scholars committed to small group discussions and sustained dialogue. This network aims to build on the retreat's discussions, fostering ongoing collaboration across African and Latin American perspectives on AI's role in shaping planetary futures.

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