AI is ushering in a new era of colonialism
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As AI changes the way the world gathers information, some critics say that it is perpetuating stereotypes and erasing cultural nuances for Indigenous groups and people of color.
Why it matters: Most mainstream models are trained on the work of Western writers — particularly white men — and regularly mimic those values, writing styles, viewpoints and biases.
- Some critics say the data grab is a new form of colonialism, where information gathering replaces Imperial-era land seizures while the AI companies — rather than a conquering nation — reap profits from marginalized groups.
- Data collection from these groups is often done without their consent or any verification that the information is accurate.
What they're saying: "Colonialism is always portrayed as something that happened in the past … many countries got independence, and then the textbooks say 'colonialism is over,'" Julian Posada, a Yale professor who studies the relationship between human labor and data production, tells Axios.
- Posada says that modern-day colonialism still exists, but people often fail to recognize it.
Context: Most large language models are made by the WEIRD: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies, and pull data from social media, websites, news archives, and digitized materials that largely originate in North America and Europe.
- Those training materials have resulted in LLMs inventing details based on Western assumptions about cultural traditions or values, and those errors persist despite Big Tech putting in work to train them with more diverse viewpoints and data.
Case in point: Aditya Vashistha, a professor at Cornell University, tells Axios that AI models will often say all Indian food is "rich and aromatic and spicy," but some isn't, flattening the diversity of the Indian palette.
- "You will find different regional cuisines which differ in the spices which are used, or in what moderation, like the amounts they use."
Zoom out: Taking the data itself is a "deeply colonial act," Nick Couldry, co-author of "Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back," tells Axios.
- "To say, 'well, it's just out there. We can just take it.' That was what colonialism was about, just taking everything."
- "Not only can we take it, but we should take it, and we're entitled to take it and make everything we want out of it, extract as much profit."
Zoom in: Big Tech's push to move fast and generate profit exacerbates the problem, Michael Sherbert, an Algonquin of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and a fellow at Queen's University, tells Axios.
- "A lot of American AI companies are trying to outperform Chinese companies, right? Taking time to discuss issues and knowledge with indigenous communities is very costly. It takes a lot of time, and could make them fall behind."
- Brian Ritchie, founder of kama.ai and a member of Ontario's Chapleau Cree First Nation, tells Axios he's attended many summits with Indigenous leaders and hasn't personally "seen any history where indigenous people have been involved" in training AI.
Worth noting: Many Indigenous traditions are not being accounted for by AI because they are passed down through oral history rather than written words that an LLM can access. And other knowledge is intentionally kept private, Sherbert says.
The bottom line: "It's not just misinformation that's the problem," Sherbert says.
- "These systems, the answers that these LLMs are giving, are increasingly shaping how people understand themselves, culture, history, identity, and even what's true and legitimate."
Go deeper: The continuing problem of AI bias
