Black Youth Voices, Elevated? A.I. Chatbot for Issues Discussions in the United States and Liberia

• In Event: A.I. and Equity: Perspectives on Supporting Black Youth to Thrive in the Digital World

Abstract

Objectives
Civic development is at the heart of educational initiatives worldwide; like young people around the globe, youth in the African diaspora experience barriers to fully engaging in democracy (Littenberg-Tobias & Cohen, 2016; Kassimir & Flanagan, 2010). Social media is one key component of contemporary public discourse, involving discussion, organization, and mobilization (Byrne, 2007; Juris, 2012). Building on grassroots efforts within African and diaspora communities to encourage civic engagement, this project examines an AI chatbot created by a youth-focused nonprofit supporting a digital dialogue between communities in the United States and Liberia. Research questions are: 1) How do members of the public interact with the chatbot? 2) How do members of the organization approach chatbot creation?

Theoretical Perspectives
Sociocultural learning theory (Vygotsky, 1978), uBuntu (Assié-Lumumba, 2016), and post-colonial theory (Patel, 2015) provide a lens for analysis in this case study. Sociocultural learning theory suggests that learning results from social interaction, facilitated in this context through online interaction (Kumar & Silva, 2020; Tuomi, 2018). The theoretical framework of uBuntu holds that a person’s wellbeing necessitates being in relationship to other people in one’s community, the natural environment, and historical context (Assié-Lumumba, 2016; Du Toit-Brits et al., 2012). Finally, a post-colonial theoretical lens supports attention to context and power within research- in the case of this analysis, geographic location in the United States and in Liberia, as well as the importance of localized knowledge and practices for democratic engagement (Bhabha, 1994; Dimitriadis & McCarthy, 2001; Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo, 1986).

Methods & Data Sources
This is a mixed-methods case study of the deployment of the AI chatbot through social media (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Merriam, 1998). The case study included structured interviews with six members of the non-profit organization: four in the U.S. and two in Liberia, internal correspondence and planning documents related to creation of the AI tool (Schreier, 2012) and both post-level and page-level analytic data from Facebook from the campaign’s launch in August 2020 to August 2021 (Ahn, 2013; Kite et al., 2019). Mediated discourse analysis supported interpretation of digital content (Scollon & de Saint-Georges, 2013).

Findings
Members of the public viewed the organization’s videos, but did not substantively interact with the AI chatbot. Minimal engagement seen with the AI chatbot may be related to the process for AI creation. When working to create the AI chatbot, members of the non-profit organization who engaged in and supported the work were mostly located in the United States. Beyond email communications, U.S. members did not substantively engage Liberian counterparts to gain cross-cultural perspectives on the AI script or deployment.

Significance
AI is a tool that can be used for learning and that can recreate societal inequities (Guillory, 2020). In the context of supporting education for Black youth, AI may require community-mediated events and promotion to support human engagement. In addition, power and coloniality may impede the use of AI for learning across cultural settings. Reflection, cross-cultural competence, and equity audits may be useful in the development of AI for learning.

Authors

• Jasmine L. Blanks Jones, Johns Hopkins University

• Laura Jeanne Quaynor, Johns Hopkins University