It is evident that many Solomon Islanders – public servants, politicians, academics, journalists, teachers, students, etc. – use Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT to generate text. This is obvious in their Facebook posts, speeches, e-mails, letters, etc.
Perhaps students use it to write their assignments as well. Well, if teachers use it then it is likely students also do. They must surely know that publicly available Apps can be used to check the percentage of AI-generated text in a piece of writing. It seems however they don’t care because they think nobody realizes it, or that it makes them more efficient and look good.
There is nothing inherently wrong with AI. It is here to stay, and if used appropriately it can be helpful. For example, it could check grammar, improve sentence structures, etc. But to use it aptly, we must be AI literate.
Here, the term “AI literacy” is used broadly to refer to, not only about knowing how to use it, but also its role in the production – or more appropriately, the reduction – of bodies of knowledge and the structures of power it creates and perpetuates.
In reality, AI does not generate new information/data, and is insensitive to the diversities and nuances of knowledge. This is especially so for indigenous knowledge, much of which exists outside cyberspace. Consequently, when one prompts AI to generate text, it draws from data that already exists in cyberspace. It doesn’t create new ones, and lacks creativity.
Another aspect of AI one must consider is the power dynamics it creates. The data that exists and AI draws from reflects the values and prejudices of the creators.
There are also immense power imbalances that could lead to “cyber colonialism,” or what other scholars refer to it as “data colonialism”. This denotes an era of the AI Empire that influences every aspects and dynamics of our societies and livelihoods.
AI is not an independent and neutral technology. It is deeply embedded in, and actively reinforces broader structures of colonialism, capitalism, racism, inequalities, sexism, etc. It also erases other bodies of knowledge and ways of knowing – other epistemological genealogies.
Furthermore, when one enters place-based indigenous knowledge while using AI, it is immediately appropriated by the system. In the future the AI creators could potentially claim intellectual property right over that knowledge.
It is therefore a process that appropriates information and disempowers indigenous owners/custodians of knowledge. That is intellectual colonialism.
Ultimately, while AI can be useful and we must learn how to correctly use it, the untethered manner in which some Solomon Islanders use it is troubling. It could negatively affect Solomon Islanders’ ability to think independently, creatively, and in nuanced ways that reflects our unique contexts. This could lead to collective intellectual paralysis.
If we are not careful, we will be forever be subservient to the whims of the AI masters. That would be an ultimate form of colonialism.
Source: The Australian Association for Pacific Studies.
Tarcisius Kapataulaka is a Solomon Island academic, based in Hawaii, an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii, with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies. He is a Board Member of The Contemporary Pacific: An Interdisciplinary Journal. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Talanoa ‘o Tonga.
