Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa
In the literature, there are polarized views regarding the capabilities of technology to embed societal values. One aisle of the debate contends that technical artifacts are value-neutral since values are not peculiar to inanimate objects. Scholars on the other side of the aisle argue that technolog...
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Data & Policy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632324924000737/type/journal_article |
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| author | Getachew Hailemariam Mengesha Elefelious Getachew Belay Rachel Adams |
| author_facet | Getachew Hailemariam Mengesha Elefelious Getachew Belay Rachel Adams |
| author_sort | Getachew Hailemariam Mengesha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the literature, there are polarized views regarding the capabilities of technology to embed societal values. One aisle of the debate contends that technical artifacts are value-neutral since values are not peculiar to inanimate objects. Scholars on the other side of the aisle argue that technologies tend to be value-laden. With the call to embed ethical values in technology, this article explores how AI and other adjacent technologies are designed and developed to foster social justice. Drawing insights from prior studies, this paper identifies seven African moral values considered central to actualizing social justice; of these, two stand out—respect for diversity and ethnic neutrality. By introducing use case analysis along with the Discovery, Translation, and Verification (DTV) framework and validating via Focus Group Discussion, this study revealed novel findings: first, ethical value analysis is best carried out alongside software system analysis. Second, to embed ethics in technology, interdisciplinary expertise is required. Third, the DTV approach combined with the software engineering methodology provides a promising way to embed moral values in technology. Against this backdrop, the two highlighted ethical values—respect for diversity and ethnic neutrality—help ground the pursuit of social justice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c2125c7818d84de59360adcc6084710a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2632-3249 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Data & Policy |
| spelling | doaj-art-c2125c7818d84de59360adcc6084710a2025-08-20T02:30:24ZengCambridge University PressData & Policy2632-32492024-01-01610.1017/dap.2024.73Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in AfricaGetachew Hailemariam Mengesha0Elefelious Getachew Belay1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8720-6295Rachel Adams2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1436-190XSchool of Information Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaSchool of Information Technology and Engineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaResearch ICT Africa, Cape Town, South AfricaIn the literature, there are polarized views regarding the capabilities of technology to embed societal values. One aisle of the debate contends that technical artifacts are value-neutral since values are not peculiar to inanimate objects. Scholars on the other side of the aisle argue that technologies tend to be value-laden. With the call to embed ethical values in technology, this article explores how AI and other adjacent technologies are designed and developed to foster social justice. Drawing insights from prior studies, this paper identifies seven African moral values considered central to actualizing social justice; of these, two stand out—respect for diversity and ethnic neutrality. By introducing use case analysis along with the Discovery, Translation, and Verification (DTV) framework and validating via Focus Group Discussion, this study revealed novel findings: first, ethical value analysis is best carried out alongside software system analysis. Second, to embed ethics in technology, interdisciplinary expertise is required. Third, the DTV approach combined with the software engineering methodology provides a promising way to embed moral values in technology. Against this backdrop, the two highlighted ethical values—respect for diversity and ethnic neutrality—help ground the pursuit of social justice.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632324924000737/type/journal_articlemoral valuesAIDTVsocial justicerespect diversityethnic neutrality |
| spellingShingle | Getachew Hailemariam Mengesha Elefelious Getachew Belay Rachel Adams Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa Data & Policy moral values AI DTV social justice respect diversity ethnic neutrality |
| title | Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa |
| title_full | Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa |
| title_short | Social justice considerations in developing and deploying AI in Africa |
| title_sort | social justice considerations in developing and deploying ai in africa |
| topic | moral values AI DTV social justice respect diversity ethnic neutrality |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632324924000737/type/journal_article |
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