Digital Colonialism in AI image-generation systems

09:15 AM – 10.15 AM, – Talk presentation

About the topic

Digital Colonialism in AI image-generation systems describes how tech companies from the Global North reproduce historical power dynamics by dominating digital infrastructure and narratives.

The Paper

This research investigates whether Generative AI image-generation systems reinforce Global North dominance through stereotypical representations of historically dominated countries. Utilizing Asante’s framework of the Western construction of knowledge, the research explores digital colonialism, where nations like the U.S. and China dominate AI infrastructure while treating the Global South as “data farms”. An analysis of ChatGPT and Gemini reveals that prompts for a “Mexican person” prioritize stereotypical archetypes and lower socio-economic roles, whereas “American” prompts yield modern, professional imagery. These disparities create “cultural mirages” that threaten local identities and risk psychological harm. To dismantle this cultural hierarchy, the study advocates for epistemic delinking and community-led data projects. Ultimately, it argues that marginalized nations must transition to active participants in technology development to achieve cultural sovereignty and global justice.

Relevant implications

This research identifies critical implications regarding digital colonialism in Gen AI image-generation systems. By concentrating infrastructure in the Global North, these systems reduce the Global South to “data farms,” extracting data and resources while fostering socio-economic dependence. This results in “cultural mirages” where AI prioritizes stereotypes over modern realities, universalizing Western-centric biases as “universal truths”. This distortion causes psychological harm and threatens the cultural integrity of future generations. To mitigate these risks, this paper advocates for epistemic delinking—integrating localized data—to transition from passive consumption to cultural sovereignty and global justice.