Rethinking 'the Human' in AI ^{CEFR B2}

Xonorika Kira argues that debates about whether to “centre the human” in AI often hide a narrow template of humanity that has excluded many forms of intelligence. She links this template to a long history in which animal, ecological, ancestral and spiritual knowledges were dismissed, and she says that idea has been shaped by white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism and cisheteronormativity. The border between the natural and the artificial, she adds, creates moral rules that mark some bodies and genders as “unnatural,” which can reinforce exclusion.

Kira connects these ideas to recent shifts in computation. The global tech ecosystem has automated many creative and affective tasks, and since at least 2022 the acceleration of planetary computation has intensified fears of replacement—not just of jobs but of meaning, perception and creativity. At a book launch for "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" at Now Instant in Los Angeles, she described efforts to reclaim technology and cultural data that were extracted without consent; an art critic and a curator debated whether this change redeems production contexts and noted that queer and decolonial artists broadened the conversation.

She stresses that data and content come from labour, extraction and energy: models run on servers that draw electricity, water and minerals. Her practical paths are concrete: build smaller, situated datasets grounded in relationships, consent and accountability; imagine alternate forms of data consumption—smaller, slower models tuned to communities and interfaces that invite depth rather than endless scale; and treat AI systems as unstable collaborators that can support cultural sovereignty. Following Ruha Benjamin, Kira says imagination must accompany dismantling.

Kira Xonorika is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and writer. Their work examines trauma and colonial power, pathologisation, trans and queer temporalities, knowledge production from the Global South, internet aesthetics and resilient organising.