The role of the African value of Ubuntu in global AI inclusion discourse: A normative ethics perspective

Arthur Gwagwa; Emre Kazim; Airlie Hilliard

doi:10.1016/j.patter.2022.100462

The role of the African value of Ubuntu in global AI inclusion discourse: A normative ethics perspective

Arthur Gwagwa, Emre Kazim, Airlie Hilliard

OFR - Ethics Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Historically, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been excluded from the benefits of the previous industrial revolutions, as its people and their resources and aspirations have been objectified through foreign domination, and its culture has either been fragmented or appropriated. While artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to generate vast amounts of wealth, its application could lead to further social and economic exclusion of SSA due to a lack of access to technological advancements and the historical injustice and exclusion based on protected characteristics. Through an examination of the concept of inclusion, this paper explores how to improve the terms on which African populations and subpopulations and their concerns are included in the global AI ethics discourses. Specifically, it is argued that the SSA value of Ubuntu could be of immense value in AI applied normative ethics, particularly toward an inclusive approach for the implementation of the universal AI ethics principles and guidelines.

Original language	English
Article number	100462
Pages (from-to)	1-7
Journal	Patterns
Volume	3
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2022.100462
Publication status	Published - 8 Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is part of the research program Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies, which is funded through the Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research ( NWO grant number 024.004.031 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Keywords

AI ethics
African ethics and values
DSML 2: Proof-of-concept: Data science output has been formulated, implemented, and tested for one domain/problem
Ubuntu
artificial intelligence
utilitarianism

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1-s2.0-S2666389922000423-mainFinal published version, 479 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Historically, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been excluded from the benefits of the previous industrial revolutions, as its people and their resources and aspirations have been objectified through foreign domination, and its culture has either been fragmented or appropriated. While artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to generate vast amounts of wealth, its application could lead to further social and economic exclusion of SSA due to a lack of access to technological advancements and the historical injustice and exclusion based on protected characteristics. Through an examination of the concept of inclusion, this paper explores how to improve the terms on which African populations and subpopulations and their concerns are included in the global AI ethics discourses. Specifically, it is argued that the SSA value of Ubuntu could be of immense value in AI applied normative ethics, particularly toward an inclusive approach for the implementation of the universal AI ethics principles and guidelines.",

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The role of the African value of Ubuntu in global AI inclusion discourse: A normative ethics perspective

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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