Several Black entrepreneurs have sought to make artificial intelligence more culturally relevant to the African diaspora.
Stereotypes aside, Black folks have always been space-aged.
From Parliament-Funkadelic getting down on the mothership to “Space Age Pimpin’” by Eightball and M.J.G., Black entertainers have always been fascinated with the futuristic.
But on a more serious note, Black innovators have begun making their mark in the space age arena of artificial intelligence.
To honor their ingenuity, RegalMag.com profiles some brothers and sisters “making it do what it do” in the artificial intelligence space.
One such AI innovator is John Pasmore.
TechCrunch reported, “ChatGPT, one of the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence tools, struggles with cultural nuance. That’s quite annoying for a Black person like Pasmore. In fact, this oversight has evoked the ire of many Black people who already did not see themselves properly represented in the algorithms touted to one day save the world. The current ChatGPT offers answers that are too generalized for specific questions that cater to certain communities, as its training appears Eurocentric and Western in its bias. This is not unique—most AI models are not built with people of color in mind. But many Black founders are adamant not to be left behind.”
To take advantage of an untapped market, Black tech entrepreneurs like Pasmore have sought to fill the gap for communities of color in the artificial intelligence space.
Pasmore said, “If you ask the model generally who are some of the most important artists in our culture, it will give you Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. It’s not going to say anything about India or China, African or even African-Americans, because it has a bias that is focused on the European trajectory of history.”
As a result, Pasmore created Latimer.AI, which is a language model cater towards Black and Brown people.
Likewise, Erin Reddick launched ChatBlackGPT, also catered to Black and Brown communities.
The continent of Africa has seen a plethora of language models pop up to cater to the over 2,000 African languages.
The Canadian-based SparkPlug is also an alternative for Black and Brown communities.
SparkPlug founder Tamar Huggins said, “We are the keepers of our own stories and experiences. We need to create systems and infrastructure, that we own and control, to ensure our data remains ours.”
TechCrunch added, “Generalized AI models cannot easily capture the African American experience because many aspects of that culture are not online. Current algorithms scrape the internet for sourcing, but many traditions and dialects within African American culture are passed down orally or firsthand, leaving a gap in what an AI model will understand about the community versus the nuance in what actually happens.”
To close the cultural gap in artificial intelligence, Pasmore looked to African-American newspapers like Amsterdam News to make his platform as factual and sensitive as possible.
Many African-Americans prefer terms like enslaved people to slaves, which takes away the humanity of their oppressed ancestors.
When people asked ChatGPT about the underground railroad, the system referred to those seeking freedom as slaves.
Pasmore’s platform, instead, refers to those human beings as “enslaved” or “freedom-seeking people.”
He said, “You have some subtle differences in the language that the model uses because of the training data, and the model itself just thinks about Black and Brown people.”
As of 2024, Reddick’s ChatBlackGPT was still in beta, with plans to launch on Juneteenth of last year.
ChatBlackGPT is a chat box where a person can ask a question and get answers tailored to the Black experience.
Reddick said, “The core of what we’re doing is true community-driven.”
She is asking her users what they want the chat box to look like and how they want it to act.
Additionally, Reddick is partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to work with students to help train and teach the algorithm.
Reddick said she is attempting to “make a well-rounded learning opportunity for Black and Brown people to have a safe space to explore AI.”
She added, “The algorithm prioritizes Black information sources so that it can speak to a body of knowledge that is more immediately relatable than your average experience.”
In 2024, three scholars started the Black AI Consortium to promote dialogue and teamwork among people of diverse backgrounds within the African diaspora.
BlackNews reported, “The mission of The Black AI Consortium is to cultivate a vibrant and supportive community where individuals in the African diaspora can share experiences, knowledge, and resources related to artificial intelligence. The aim is to facilitate, meaningful discussions, collaborations, and learning opportunities that address and resolve specific economic, social, and educational challenges within the community. Through advocacy, education, and networking, the Consortium seeks to democratize AI technology to ensure it is a tool for empowerment and progress within the diaspora.”
