Indigenous Knowledge Systems Integration into AI Development Paradigms in West Africa: A Comparative Study in Kenya

Indigenous knowledge systems in West Africa, particularly among the Maasai of Kenya, offer unique perspectives and practices that can inform AI development. Qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data from local communities, with thematic analysis conducted on collected narratives. In the Rift Valley region, IKs informed 75% of AI applications, compared to 40% in the Coast, highlighting regional variations in adoption and integration strategies. The findings suggest that contextual factors such as cultural proximity to IKS influence AI development practices. Future studies should consider implementing cross-regional comparative analyses to provide a more comprehensive understanding of IKs' role in AI development. Model estimation used $\hat{\theta}=argmin_{\theta}\sum_i\ell(y_i,f_\theta(x_i))+\lambda\lVert\theta\rVert_2^2$, with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.