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Titled “Charting New Territory: Digital Humanities and AI in African Studies,” the three-day scoping workshop brought together experts from Africa, Europe and beyond to critically assess the convergence of Digital Humanities (DH) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in context-aware ways and collaboratively shape its future.
Rather than focusing solely on technological innovation, discussions examined how DH and AI intersect with African studies, languages and knowledge systems, prioritising dialogue over formal presentations.
Dr Sibeko noted that one of the clearest findings was the limited transferability of Global North-derived frameworks when applied uncritically to African contexts.
While often expansive, these frameworks tend to overlook African linguistic diversity, socio-cultural realities and historical power asymmetries in knowledge production.
“The workshop also highlighted that data sovereignty remains partial and contested. Communities whose languages and cultural resources underpin DH and AI research often retain limited control over how their data is collected, governed, reused and monetised,” he said.
“For a change, we discussed African DH and AI from an African Studies perspective, not as a variant of general global DH and AI.
Another important factor was that the workshop demonstrated how DH can act as a mediating space between AI development and African studies, bringing together technical expertise, critical theory and institutional practice.”
“This convergence is essential for developing AI tools that are not only technologically effective but also intellectually grounded, socially responsible and aligned with African scholarly and community practices.”
Nelson Mandela University’s Digital Humanities Hub
Dr Sibeko’s contributions were informed by his role as coordinator of the Digital Humanities Hub and senior lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics.
“I sought to bring a corpus linguistics perspective into conversation with Digital Humanities practice and institutional realities. As a DH Hub manager, I also contributed practical insights into how these debates translate into sustainable research infrastructures.”
This included reflections on governance models, the long-term stewardship of language data, and institutional responsibilities in hosting and granting access to corpora in ways that respect ownership and consent, as well as integrating these considerations into curriculum design.
A key outcome of the workshop is a co-authored position paper outlining strategic recommendations to guide future research, policy and funding.
“The workshop’s position paper will provide a conceptual and ethical framework that the DH Hub will draw on for future projects, grant applications and postgraduate supervision. It also strengthens strategic research networks, translating into future collaborations and funding opportunities,” said Dr Sibeko.
“The paper will also be used as a teaching and reference text in DH modules, demonstrating Mandela University’s engagement with globally relevant DH scholarship grounded in African contexts.”
Building on the workshop, Dr Sibeko hopes to advance the theorisation of DH from a Southern African perspective, particularly around questions of visibility – what counts as African studies, what is foregrounded and what remains peripheral.
“For those of us working at the intersection of DH and AI, this question forces a deeper reflection on our own Africanness and on how Africanisation is meaningfully taken up in both our curricula and research practice.
“I hope this line of thinking will help us develop more grounded and relevant approaches to DH and AI – approaches responsive to Southern African contexts rather than simply adapted from elsewhere.”