17 Epistemological Clash: AI and Ways of Knowing

Tools for using Artificial Intelligence are not tools for knowledge generation; they are tools for collating the information that is fed into the AI database. This assumes that knowledge is separate from context, community, and personal experience. In short, it relies on Western notions of knowledge. As Brayboy and I have identified elsewhere, such “clashes raise critical connections between power and the (re)production and transmission of knowledge” (p. 2). Indigenous epistemologies begin from different assumptions—from the idea that knowledge is contextual, that it is formed, understood, and practiced within the embodiment of community, and that the identity of the knowledge user is in critical dialogue with the world around them.

The tension between these epistemologies is not trivial. It impacts what questions get asked, what sources of authority are considered trustworthy, what standards are used to determine the reliability and validity of knowledge, and how best to communicate that knowledge. This is not to say that individuals and communities, including Indigenous communities, who see the world through the lens of epistemologies that are not compatible with the epistemologies that guide AI cannot or should not make use of this burgeoning technology. However, it is not only the coding of AI tools that is invisible to the user; it may also be the assumptions about how we know. Recognizing this conflict allows for more deliberate consideration of the impact of AI on the future of knowledge and allows for thoughtful problematizing of the one-size-fits all approach to knowledge.

References

Brayboy, B. M. J., & Maughan, E. (2011). Indigenous knowledges and the story of the bean. In K. P. Afolabi, C. Bocala, R. C. Diaquoi, J. M. Hayden, I.A. Liefshitz, and S. S. Oh (Eds.), Education for a Multicultural Society. Harvard Educational Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.1.l0u6435086352229