Chatting with the Decolonized Digital Library

Abstract: We use an analysis of ChatGPT as a starting point for imagining Chat-DeCOL attuned to the values of decoloniality. We root ChatDeCOL in the notion of the pluriverse, which acknowledges the validity of different ways of being in the world, decentering the claims to universality of Western epistemologies. While current artificial intelligence (AI) is problematic because of the social infrastructure within which it is produced, if founded on just principles, AI could make a positive contribution to social justice. Our paper is a thought experiment in tune with critical librarianship and notions of critical design and design fiction. Such practices explore ways to design antisolutionist technologies that challenge current societal arrangements. We start by reflecting on features of ChatGPT that we consider retaining, establishing a principle of "accessibility." We then examine some of the controversies around ChatGPT to ensure that our reimagined service does not reproduce the same failings. We define a principle of "critical dialogue" to contrast to the informational failings of ChatGPT. A second theme revolves around the ethics of the production of the AI. This theme prompts us to define the service as "ethically developed and maintained." Last, we explore the idea that ChatDeCOL could be based on the principle of a commitment to care.