TECH MEETS TRADITION: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE PROTECTION OF AFRICAN CULTURAL IDENTITY

Abstract

The confluence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and African cultural heritage is both of great promise and pressing concern. With the development of AI technologies, they offer immense tools for digitizing, documenting, and disseminating Africa's rich cultural productions,oral performances, indigenous languages, and cultural objects, for instance. But these technologies raise questions about authenticity, ownership, and equitable access. The crux of the problem is to ensure that technological progression does not deplete Africa's plural identities and its intangible heritage. Traditional knowledge systems across the continent are under continuous threat from modernization, globalization, and weak documentation. To this, AI systems carry the cultural inclinations of their creators—most times the external or foreign ones—falsifying or omitting local knowledge. This paper explores the use of AI responsibly to protect and promote African cultural identity in addressing the epistemological gap between local developers and indigenous cultures. It examines tangible uses of AI in protecting folklore, language, oral traditions, and traditional arts and examines the threats of cultural misrepresentation and marginalization in the digital environment. The paper contends for an African-centric, culture-sensitive model of AI building that puts African values, ethics, and participatory paradigms first. Through partnerships with local elders, intellectuals, artists, and technologists, AI can be employed not as a tool of erasure but as a preservation medium. Lastly, the paper calls for interdisciplinary research collaboration, ethical AI development, and de-colonial digital infrastructure that preserves African identities with authenticity, dignity, and agency during the age of artificial intelligence.