Toward a Decolonial Framework for Communicating AI in African Public Service

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is affecting public service delivery and governance in Africa. There has been increased interest in the legal and ethical aspects of these initiatives. However, at the center of these AI projects is the communication question, in particular, how governments frame AI, communicate about the projects, and engage citizens and other stakeholders in their design and implementation. The communication question is even more pertinent in a digital environment embedded in Western-centric techno-frames. A synthesis of literature shows that communication systems in African public service are embedded in colonial legacies of poor technology infrastructure, inadequate internet access and digital literacy, and language exclusion, among others. Improving communication with citizens in the context of AI-driven public service requires a focus on incorporating African voices into the development and implementation of digital systems to combat and overcome the above-mentioned barriers. Through a decolonial perspective, including drawing insights from two cases: Mbaza Chatbot (Rwanda) and Masakhane NLP project (Pan-African), this paper develops a decolonial framework to guide communication about AI, especially in public service delivery.