Decoding The Digital Fuku: Deciphering Colonial Legacies to Critically Assess ChatGPT in Dominican Education

AI tools like ChatGPT risk repeating historical patterns of external control over Dominican education: The paper argues that adopting ChatGPT without critical examination could perpetuate "digital colonialism," where educational systems in the Global South become dependent on technologies developed and controlled by Global North countries, mirroring colonial-era power dynamics that have shaped Dominican education since the 1916 US occupation.

Educational disparities in the Dominican Republic have deep structural roots that technology alone cannot solve: The paper emphasizes that Dominican educational challenges stem from "long-standing origins rooted in economic, political, and social inequity," suggesting that generative AI tools cannot address these fundamental inequities without accompanying structural reforms and local capacity building.

AI systems disproportionately reflect the values and biases of countries where they were developed: The research documents how AI tools "disproportionately reinforce power dynamics reflective of jurisdictions driving AI development and deployment policies," meaning ChatGPT and similar tools embed assumptions and priorities from Global North developers that may not align with Dominican educational needs and contexts.

Responsible AI adoption requires understanding local historical context: The paper calls for "relational contextualization" by AI developers and stakeholders, emphasizing that decisions about deploying AI in Dominican education must account for the country's specific history of external intervention and educational reform, rather than treating adoption as a universal solution.