Opinion | We must decolonise AI to overcome cultural bias in the classroom
- AI is gradually becoming a pedagogical tool but some applications remain steeped in Eurocentrism, pushing non-Western world history to the margins
- Technologists and humanities scholars must work together to make sure no one’s history is erased
At Harvard University, for example, its introductory computer science course incorporates AI-based platforms to guide students in learning programming. A university pedagogy project guides educators to critically engage with AI in teaching, while workshops on harnessing the power of AI are offered to faculties and teaching fellows.
ChatGPT instantly gave us an outline divided by historical periods, starting from prehistory and the ancient world to medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary periods. It listed major ancient civilisations, including Mesopotamia, ancient China and Indus Valley, under the ancient period module.
However, when ChatGPT moved to the classical and early modern periods, the coverage of non-European history gradually diminished. ChatGPT’s outline of world history in the early modern period, dating roughly from the 16th to 19th centuries, was almost exclusively European.
Other cultures began to re-emerge in the modern and contemporary periods, but the events listed primarily revolved around engagements with the West. Despite our efforts to ask ChatGPT to generate different versions of the outline, it consistently focused on European history.