Why African journalism matters in shaping Al's local impact

The framing of artificial intelligence in African news media significantly influences how societies understand and engage with the technology.

- By Sisanda Nkoala, Musawenkosi Ndlovu, Tanja Bosch and Trust Matsilele

News media shape public understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and influence how society interacts with these technologies.

For many people, especially those who have not sought more knowledge about AI elsewhere, media platforms are a primary source of information.

This is particularly significant in Africa, where historical and socioeconomic contexts like colonial legacies and uneven technology transfer shape how AI is understood and adopted.

Consequently, the way African news media represent and frame AI carries weight in shaping broader public discourse.

To explore how African media report on AI, we, as media researchers, analysed 724 news articles about AI from 26 English-speaking African countries. These were published between 1 June 2022 and 31 December 2023. We looked at how these publications contributed to the hype about AI — exaggerated excitement, inflated expectations and often sensationalised claims about what artificial intelligence can do.

Hype is often contrasted with the notion of something called an AI winter. This is a period of diminished interest and investment in AI technologies. It's a cyclical trend that has been seen since Al's inception in the 1950s. It manifests in exaggerated language, overly optimistic or pessimistic views and significant investments in AI.