By Thapelo Molefe
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has warned that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies could deepen inequality, weaken data sovereignty and allow African knowledge to be controlled by others.
Speaking at the HSRC Annual Conference 2026, board chairperson Professor Xoliswa Mtose said digital technology was changing how societies function, but African countries needed to ensure they were not left dependent on systems designed elsewhere.
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“We are navigating an era wherein digital technologies are reshaping societies,” Mtose said.
“For South Africa and the Global South, however, this reshaping carries greater significance,” she said.
Mtose said digital technologies offered opportunities for inclusion and development, but could also result in “deepening inequality, the erosion of data sovereignty” and technological dependency linked to “data colonialism”.
“History has taught us what it costs to have our futures designed elsewhere without us,” she said.
HSRC chief executive Professor Sarah Mosoetsa said the conference had deliberately focused on “digitality” rather than artificial intelligence alone because the organisation wanted to examine how technology was changing society.
“Our starting point is society. We are interested in technology, but particularly in its relationship with people, with institutions, with power, with inequality, with culture, with democracy, and knowledge,” Mosoetsa said.
She said the conference was also intended to challenge the idea that Africa should simply adopt technologies developed elsewhere.
“This is an unapologetically Global South conversation rooted in Africa,” Mosoetsa said.
“Participation should not mean simply entering conversations whose questions, concepts, and technological futures have already been determined elsewhere.”
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The conference keynote speaker, Professor Ayobami Ojebode, focused on digital humanities, artificial intelligence and the protection of indigenous knowledge in Africa.
Ojebode said that African countries risked losing control of their data and indigenous knowledge if stronger governance systems were not put in place.
He said much of Africa’s data was stored outside the continent and that African countries needed to take greater control of it.
“Once they are collected, they are no longer ours. Now we have to buy them,” Ojebode said.
He also questioned what could be lost when people increasingly turn to digital tools and AI instead of older generations for knowledge.
“What is missing? What is getting lost in the process when AI becomes the elder and replaces the elder?” he asked.
Ojebode said artificial intelligence could help researchers process large archives, analyse large amounts of text, transcribe and translate material and identify patterns in datasets.
However, he warned that digital systems could also create a false sense of completeness and overlook important human experiences and context.
“The digital has the tendency to aggregate what is more prominent, what is more visible, and then overlook the very deep things of life,” he said.
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Ojebode called for humanities and social sciences to play a greater role in shaping artificial intelligence, rather than only studying its impact after technologies had been developed.
“I think that is where we are going to be in trouble if we allow AI to help humanities without humanities helping it,” he said.
He proposed that software engineers should receive training in philosophy, logic, critical thinking and ethics.
Ojebode said African communities risked losing ownership of traditional knowledge if it was collected, digitised and commercialised without proper safeguards.
“There is a huge upswell of interest from the West, interest in African indigenous knowledge systems,” he said.
“We’re saying, as you work on the knowledge of your community, please put knowledge governance, data governance at the centre of it. That knowledge must remain the property of the community.”
He said Africa needed a common framework for managing indigenous knowledge, digital humanities and artificial intelligence.
“We need to work as much as possible towards a unified framework for indigenous knowledge and digital humanities and AI in Africa,” Ojebode said.
He also pointed to the limited digital infrastructure on the continent, saying Africa had only about 230 major servers, which together held about 20% of its data.
Ojebode said initiatives developing artificial intelligence around African languages showed that the continent could play a more active role in shaping the technology.
He called for African countries and institutions to move beyond simply preserving historical knowledge digitally and focus on ensuring living cultures could benefit from technology.
“We are moving from archive to living knowledge and culture,” he said.
