Echoes of Empire: Generative AI, Colonial Radio, and the Global North’s Influence on Curriculum and Data in Education

• In Event: Data, AI, and Power: Critical Perspectives on Equity and Influence in Education

Abstract

This paper examines parallels between colonial radio education and today’s generative AI tools to interrogate how both technologies—though framed as democratizing—have historically reproduced cultural hegemony. Using the BBC’s Caribbean Voices (1943–1958) as a case study, we trace how British-controlled educational media shaped curriculum and subjectivity in the colonial Caribbean. Applying postcolonial theory, we analyze how generative AI today risks reinforcing epistemic exclusion through biased training data, opaque algorithms, and Global North-dominated policy frameworks. By incorporating comparative case studies and teacher/student perspectives from the Global South, the paper offers policy recommendations for equitable, participatory AI integration.It contributes to debates on curriculum, assessment, and data governance by advocating historically conscious, culturally responsive educational technology policy, aligning with the theme of AERA 2026.

Author

• Yi Wu, Pennsylvania State University