Afrocentric Rhetoric and Citizenship in Africa in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Kehbuma Langmia's UNISA speech explores the evolution of African rhetoric and the role of the "digital town crier" within the context of artificial intelligence and global digital communication. He questions whether the traditional voice of the African storyteller has been muted or transformed by electronic colonization and an "algorithm of dependence" on Western-controlled platforms. To counter this, the speaker emphasizes the primacy of African languages and symbols as essential tools for development and empowerment, arguing that Africa must create its own culturally and ethically contextualized AI, such as facial and voice recognition, to avoid the biases and "deepfakes" inherent in Western systems. Ultimately, the discourse calls for African "netizens" to liberate their minds from colonial stereotypes and use digital prompts critically to achieve an algorithm of inclusivity that can "give the world a human face."