Indigenous Data Sovereignty: A Catalyst for Ethical AI in Business
Open accessAbstract
In the age of rapid AI advancement, digital colonialism poses a significant threat to Indigenous communities, perpetuating inequalities and exploiting their data. This commentary delves into the concept of Indigenous data sovereignty as a powerful framework for resisting digital colonialism and promoting ethical AI development.
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Biases in training data risk strengthening dominant knowledge systems while marginalising non-Western or Indigenous ways of knowing.
“Additionally, biases in training data risk strengthening dominant knowledge systems while marginalising non-Western or Indigenous ways of knowing (Rana, 2024).”
From Generative AI in Design Thinking Pedagogy: Enhancing Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as Rana, 2024
AI tools trained on predominantly Western datasets often reproduce Eurocentric aesthetics and marginalise Indigenous or non-Western epistemologies, especially during the ideate and prototype stages.
“As Rana (2024) observes, AI tools trained on predominantly Western datasets often reproduce Eurocentric aesthetics and marginalise Indigenous or non-Western epistemologies, especially during the ideate and prototype stages.”
From Generative AI in Design Thinking Pedagogy: Enhancing Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as Rana, 2024
DALL•E's training data often reflects Eurocentric aesthetics, which sidelines Indigenous knowledge systems and maintains Western design standards.
“For example, while DALL•E may speed up prototyping during the ideate phase, its training data often reflects Eurocentric aesthetics.This sidelines Indigenous knowledge systems and maintains Western design standards (Rana, 2024).”
From Generative AI in Design Thinking Pedagogy: Enhancing Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as Rana, 2024
Students consistently identified the limitations of GenAI tools, whether factual errors in ChatGPT's market data or Eurocentric imagery generated by DALL•E, and responded by applying evaluative strategies.
“Students consistently identified the limitations of GenAI tools, whether factual errors in ChatGPT's market data or Eurocentric imagery generated by DALL•E, and responded by applying evaluative strategies (Rana, 2024;Baker & Hawn, 2022).”
From Generative AI in Design Thinking Pedagogy: Enhancing Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as Rana, 2024
Students from education and law backgrounds articulated unease about how training data reproduces stereotypes, such as the frequent pairing of men with engineering roles and women with caregiving professions.
“Students from education and law backgrounds, in particular, articulated unease about how training data reproduces stereotypes, such as the frequent pairing of men with engineering roles and women with caregiving professions, thereby reinforcing problematic social scripts (Rana, 2024).”
From Generative AI in Design Thinking Pedagogy: Enhancing Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as Rana, 2024
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- Authors
- Rana, V.
- Affiliations
- Griffith University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Rana, Vishal
- ORCID
- Rana, Vishal
- Venue
- Business & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2024-08-22
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 635-640
- ISSN
- 0007-6503 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4205
- OpenAlex
- W4401750512
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 8.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Business & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
- Social Sciences › Law › Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Law
- Keywords
- Indigenous data sovereignty, ethical AI, digital colonialism, indigenous peoples, data exploitation, AI ethics, business ethics, indigenous rights
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