Alicia Boljkovac
As we interact with the digital realm through glass-lit screens, endlessly scrolling on our phones and typing away at our computers, we have fallen into the tendency to view the digital world as abstract and intangible, separate from our physical realities. This view is encouraged by the everyday narratives of ‘progress’, ‘transformation‘, and ‘advancement’ spewed by companies and governments promoting these engaging technologies (Nevett). In fact, the very term Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rooted in marketing, where ‘intelligence’ suggests a likeness to humanity, and reflects ‘an elite conception of AI’s modernity’ (Hao). These elitist narratives tend to falsely paint minority groups as benefiting from such technological advancements. This narrative tactic has been used since the 1790s, evident in the statement made by a South Carolina Congressman. With reference to the labour performed by Black slaves in cotton gin factories in the US, he says: ‘I say it boldly, there is not a happier, more contented race upon the face of the earth’ (Hao).
This animation storyboards the material and physical impact of generative AI use and its dependency on colonial ideologies, inspired by Karen Hao’s chapters ‘Dreams of Modernity’ and ‘Plundered Earth’ in her book Empire of AI. The animation underlines how colonial ideology is embedded within the narratives perpetuated by companies that own these generative AI platforms. It asks the viewer from the Global North to question how their conceptions of digital space might reflect the colonialist structures perpetuated by narratives surrounding the boom of generative AI.
Characteristics of colonialism can be defined by ‘territorial appropriation, exploitation of the natural environment and of human labour, and direct control of social structures’ (Mohamed 663). This physical and infrastructural exploitation is exemplified in how AI is trained. For instance, in India, an estimated 70,000 workers are hired by global companies to train AI content moderation algorithms, often forced to watch hundreds of explicit videos a day to train these algorithms in recognising harmful content (Behal). In Kenya, ‘Data Labellers’ whose jobs require viewing and judging explicit and violent texts to train AI algorithms, filed a petition calling for an investigation into their exploitative conditions (Rowe). This physical and global outsourcing of labour onto the Global South for tech companies based in the Global North is a physical manifestation of AI’s rooting in colonial practices of exploitation.
Further, highlighting the harms of viewing the digital space as separate from the physical, as similarly expressed in the animation, John Steyn, referencing the ‘conquering the digital divide’ within the digital humanities, writes that ‘while race limits the existence to the bodily, the power of the digital computing decouples the bodily from existence’ (Steyn and Goodrich). The bodies of those from racially marginalised communities are already under threat. Suffering from the physical impacts and exploitation of their land and resources, individuals are further marginalised by their own use of these platforms.
Furthermore, by turning to the physical exploitation of natural and local spaces, the animation demonstrates how the sheer size of data centres impacts locals living in proximity to these. Focused on the case studies of Chile and Uruguay, Karen Hao’s chapter ‘Plundered Earth’ discusses the lack of community input in the construction of such data centres, with many complaining of incessant background buzzing emanating from them (Hao). Additionally, centres rely on huge amounts of energy, causing computers to overheat in facilities. Reliant on air conditioning systems to cool them down, data centres sometimes use large amounts of potable water. In Chile, however, potable water resources have started to decline due to these cooling systems (Hao).
The waste emanating from the use of resources and labour on a global scale is thus seen through Steyn’s idea that waste is ‘an inevitable feature of modernity’ (Steyn and Goodrich). The idea that this waste is a feature of AI ‘advancements’ is reflected in the language Steyn uses to express the colonial implications of this progress, where ‘certain categories of humans have been actively rendered disposable in the service of a modern order’ (Steyn and Goodrich).
Thus, with the goal of mitigating these physical and ideological harms, how can we approach these narratives in ways that actively contribute to the creation of a ‘Decolonial AI’?
Steyn and Goodrich outline that ‘insurgent technologies must resist the decoupling of the bodily from existence’. In application, this begins by re-assessing the West’s anthropocentric approaches to these technologies that have hindered the voices and perspectives of ethnic minorities. Lee Brown et al.’s conception of a ‘Relation-Oriented AI,’ is a useful framework that criticises these Western anthropocentric approaches present in the development of generative AI (Lee Brown et al.). Instead, it focuses on the belief that ‘humans do not sit at the centre of all creation'(Lee Brown et al.). Rooted in the Digital Humanities, the article calls for the inclusion of Indigenous epistemologies within the construction of AI. Introducing protocols that centre ethical notions of respect within our interactions with other beings, the article asks: how might we approach our relationship with Artificial Intelligence through such protocols?
Another way to think about moving away from the colonial conceptions embedded in AI is through Mignolo’s framework of ‘Epistemic Delinking’ (Mignolo 450). Mignolo rejects the connective conception of ‘universalism’ suggested by the Global North’s globalisation and instead calls for a de-linking that exposes ‘localisation and pluriversalism’ (Mohammed 664).
In the process of creating this animation, feedback expressed concern over the amount of time that the animation would take to be made, in line with the deadline surrounding the building of this site, Cream of the Slop: Human Creation, Digital Critique. I used the accessible animation software ‘FlipaClip’ and, with a bit of practice, got the hang of using the copy-and-paste tools to duplicate my drawings efficiently. Despite this being my first time animating, the time spent learning to use the software and drawing every frame allowed me to express my creativity without the use of AI.
Bibliography
Behal, Anuj. ‘In the End, You Feel Blank’: India’s Female Workers Watching Hours of Abusive Content to Train AI’. The Guardian, 5 Feb. 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/05/in-the-end-you-feel-blank-indias-female-workers-watching-hours-of-abusive-content-to-train-ai.
Hao, Karen. ‘Dreams of Modernity’. Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination, Penguin, 2025, pp. 46–57, https://r4.vlebooks.com/EpubReader?ean=1781802064667.
—. ‘Plundered Earth’. Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination, Penguin, 2025, pp. 121–33, https://www.vlebooks.com/Product/Index/4930206?page=0&startBookmarkId=-1.
Lee Brown, Michelle, et al. ‘Relation-Oriented AI: Why Indigneous Protocols Matter for the Digital Humanities.’ Debates in the Digital Humanities, University of Minnesota Press, 2023, https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/global-debates-in-the-digital-humanities/section/f8972c59-6b5a-4a52-872c-cf1e416a7fdb.
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Nevett, Joshua. ‘MPs Fear Data Centre Boom Could Derail Miliband’s Net Zero Plans.’ BBC News, 12 Feb. 2026, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yjr9mp92po.
Rowe, Niamh. ‘It’s Destroyed Me Completely’: Kenyan Moderators Decry Toll of Training of AI Models.” The Guardian, 2 Aug. 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/02/ai-chatbot-training-human-toll-content-moderator-meta-openai.
Steyn, Juan, and Andre Goodrich. ‘Site-Specific Cultural Infrastructure Promoting Access and Conquering the Digital Divide.’ Debates in the Digital Humanities, edited by Matthew K. Gold and Laura Klein, University of Minnesota Press, 2023, https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/global-debates-in-the-digital-humanities/section/f8972c59-6b5a-4a52-872c-cf1e416a7fdb.
Cite this page:
Boljkovac, Alicia. 'Colonial Narratives in Artificial Intelligence'. Cream of the Slop. version 1.0, Digital Humanities for Literary Studies 2025-26, University of Edinburgh, 10 Apr. 2026, https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dh2025-26/.
