Whose agenda is being served by the dynamics surrounding AI African data extraction?
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The more AI disappears into invisibility, the further it entangles us in its underlying machinations, alongside the corporate and political interests whose agen
Artificial intelligence (AI) is entering our daily lives and is quickly changing how we do things. It disrupts socio-material relations and induces new power relations.
The average user’s understanding of these relationships is filtered through visible interfaces like computers, wires, robots, assistive devices, phones, etc. Yet beyond these physical things are virtual substructures such as servers, the internet, clouds, algorithms and other software — essential for AI functioning.
They connect us to physical infrastructure and entities elsewhere. It is in these systems that massive individual and corporate data are being analysed, classified and categorised.
Dr Angella Ndaka’s work on sustainable AI techno-futures uncovers interesting dynamics around these issues. Where are these physical infrastructures located? Who controls them, and for what purpose? What are embedded political and corporate interests? What are the social and environmental costs of maintaining them? And what is the transparency of the massive data the AI industry are continuously collecting?
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