African storytellers have been urged to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool without surrendering control of their narratives, data, languages and cultural identity.
This came out during the second Road to Mombasa dialogue organised by Afrotellers, held under the theme “Storytelling in the Age of AI”, where Accountability Lab East and Southern Africa founding executive director Dr. McDonald Lewanika said the continent needed to be cautious about how it adopted and participated in the development of AI.
The dialogue brought together African storytellers, journalists, creatives and practitioners to examine how AI is transforming the storytelling ecosystem and the opportunities and risks it presents for African narratives.
Dr Lewanika said that while there was growing pressure for Africans to participate in AI development, including the establishment of data centres and the development of large language models on the continent, this should not come at the expense of African interests.
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“I think part of what we need to ask ourselves as we clamour for power, as we clamour for knowledge around this, as we clamour to be part and parcel of people who are shaping discourses and development around AI is what we are actually clamouring for,” Dr Lewanika said.
“I think that there is a danger that as we clamour for power, knowledge, as we clamour for our rightful share in the development of AI, as we demand that data centres be built on the continent, as we develop large language models and try to be part of the conversation, we may actually be doing so in a way that allows us to celebrate a witchdoctor who at the end of the day is going to accuse our very own mothers of witchcraft.”
Dr Lewanika said storytellers should critically examine the technology they are adopting, particularly because many AI systems are developed and controlled by entities whose processes are not necessarily transparent to users.
“I use AI, but even as I use it, I am not sure what I am actually dealing with. I am dealing with something whose generation, whose mechanisms, whose coding are not responsible for and at the end of the day, I cannot be able to control,” he said.
He said AI should not be viewed as a replacement for human storytellers but rather as a tool that could assist them in their work.
“At the end of the day, ultimately, in terms of where the current conversation where AI is concerned, we need to do several things. The first thing is to appreciate the fact that AI, a phenomenon as it is, cannot replace us, and that we need to be able to use it as a tool or as an assistant,” he said.
“I know that this sounds very simple and plain, but if we are not able to master that, putting it to use and assisting us in things that we are supposed to be doing ourselves, then I think we will find ourselves in challenging situations because we will be dealing with something we are not in control of, which means that the dangers of being controlled by it are very real.”
He said storytellers had a responsibility to ensure that AI did not erode the human qualities that make storytelling meaningful.
“We need to embrace our responsibilities as storytellers, as leaders, as philosophers, and as trendsetters which means disciplining this tool that is at our disposal to do exactly what we want it to do without losing our power to generate compelling narratives because it doesn’t have the ability to do that,” Dr Lewanika said.
“It doesn’t have the ability to express feelings, emotions and stuff like that. So, we still have that responsibility as storytellers and we need to embrace and hold tight to it.”
Dr Lewanika said African societies also needed to preserve the traditional role of storytelling as a means of transmitting knowledge, values and culture across generations.
“Even as we embrace the use of AI, we need not to forget our historical duties and the historical role of storytelling in our cultures,” he said.
“Storytelling traditionally was never just about sharing stories around a fire for entertainment purpose. It was always meant to be meaningful and I think that commitment to retaining meaning, that commitment to sharing knowledge across time is something that we need to embrace as a historical duty and see how we can leverage AI to extend that particular tradition further than we have done in the past, again without losing control of our ability to be in control of our own stories.”
He said authenticity and originality remained critical as storytellers increasingly incorporated AI into their work.
“Ultimately, this thing that we call authenticity, this thing that we call originality is something that is very important and often enough it is lost when we adopt AI tools either to generate or even to communicate our stories,” Dr Lewanika said.
“There is a certain thing you have as a storyteller that you must not lose in the sprint to catch up with technology or in the sprint or race to adapt AI tool and stuff like that.”
Dr Lewanika also warned against what he described as “algorithmic imperialism” and algorithmic bias, urging African storytellers to defend the continent’s data, languages, cultures and narratives.
“Our challenge is to ensure that we eliminate algorithmic imperialism, algorithmic bias as we engage with these tools,” he said.
“Our task is to remember that we are defenders of our own data, our own language, our own narratives, our own culture and when we talk about sovereignty where data is concerned, when we talk about sovereignty where AI is concerned, I think that is important for us to remember these things and keep them front and centre in our storytelling initiatives.”
Meanwhile, Afrotellers co-founder and executive director Willson Chivhanga said the Road to Mombasa dialogue was designed to give African storytellers space to exchange ideas, showcase their work and build collaborations ahead of the main conference.
“The period between the Road to Mombasa and the conference provides African storytellers with an opportunity and space to share their work and practise, connecting with peers and potential collaborators, showcase what they are building, and contribute to the ideas that will shape the conference,” Chivhanga said.
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