The Female Voice, The Male Gaze: AI Colonial Paradox and African Feminist Futures
Proposal Type
Performance
Location
Algorithms & Imaginaries
Start Date
July 2026
End Date
July 2026
Abstract
At ELO 2026, I propose to examine the feminization of artificial intelligence as a deliberate design choice rooted in a long history of technology and service labour. From the “Hello Girls” of early telephone switchboards to the default female voices of Siri, Alexa, and contemporary chatbots, technology has repeatedly been paired with performed femininity, framing assistance as innate, emotional, and subservient. This paper will critically analyze the paradoxical gendering of artificial intelligence, in which AI assistants are feminized to evoke care and service, while the algorithmic structures behind these systems remain embedded in patriarchal and colonial logics. Drawing on African feminist theory and critical digital ethics, the presentation will argue that the performative female voice masks a masculinized and extractive digital gaze, reproducing historical gendered and racialized hierarchies and marginalizing African women epistemically. The presentation will examine biased datasets and algorithmic exclusion in key AI domains, including facial recognition, natural language processing, and generative AI. It will also highlight the underrepresentation of African women in global AI governance, showing how claims of technological neutrality function as myths sustained by unequal power relations. Rather than framing ethical artificial intelligence as a purely technical problem of bias correction, this paper will contend that meaningful transformation requires African feminist leadership in AI design and governance. By reframing artificial intelligence as a site of recognition, agency, and narrative power, the presentation will engage with electronic literature, digital culture, and critical media practices, advancing a decolonial feminist vision for more just and liberatory digital futures.
key words:
Feminization of technology. Digital colonialism. Algorithmic bias. Gender and technology. AI ethics. Feminized voice technologies. Algorithmic exclusion African. women and technology.Digital power structures. Gendered A1.
The Female Voice, The Male Gaze: AI Colonial Paradox and African Feminist Futures
Algorithms & Imaginaries
At ELO 2026, I propose to examine the feminization of artificial intelligence as a deliberate design choice rooted in a long history of technology and service labour. From the “Hello Girls” of early telephone switchboards to the default female voices of Siri, Alexa, and contemporary chatbots, technology has repeatedly been paired with performed femininity, framing assistance as innate, emotional, and subservient. This paper will critically analyze the paradoxical gendering of artificial intelligence, in which AI assistants are feminized to evoke care and service, while the algorithmic structures behind these systems remain embedded in patriarchal and colonial logics. Drawing on African feminist theory and critical digital ethics, the presentation will argue that the performative female voice masks a masculinized and extractive digital gaze, reproducing historical gendered and racialized hierarchies and marginalizing African women epistemically. The presentation will examine biased datasets and algorithmic exclusion in key AI domains, including facial recognition, natural language processing, and generative AI. It will also highlight the underrepresentation of African women in global AI governance, showing how claims of technological neutrality function as myths sustained by unequal power relations. Rather than framing ethical artificial intelligence as a purely technical problem of bias correction, this paper will contend that meaningful transformation requires African feminist leadership in AI design and governance. By reframing artificial intelligence as a site of recognition, agency, and narrative power, the presentation will engage with electronic literature, digital culture, and critical media practices, advancing a decolonial feminist vision for more just and liberatory digital futures.
key words:
Feminization of technology. Digital colonialism. Algorithmic bias. Gender and technology. AI ethics. Feminized voice technologies. Algorithmic exclusion African. women and technology.Digital power structures. Gendered A1.
Bio
Isiaq Aishat Olayetunde is a graduate of french studies, a lecturer at the Nigeria French Language Villagea, a researcher and educator with a focus on African feminist theory, digital culture, and critical media studies. Her work examines the intersections of gender, technology, and epistemic justice, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence. At ELO 2026, she will present on the feminization of AI and its implications for African women and digital literacies.