In this episode of My African Bookshelf, we examine the rise of artificial intelligence through an African lens, using Karen Hao’s Empire of AI as our guide. The conversation unpacks the hidden labor behind today’s AI systems, the global inequalities embedded in their development, and the quiet ways African workers, resources, and environments are woven into the AI economy.

Moving between the lived experiences of data annotators in the Global South and the narratives promoted by Silicon Valley, the episode draws clear parallels between the current AI boom and earlier periods of resource extraction in Africa. It asks difficult questions about power, visibility, ethics, and who ultimately benefits from technological progress.

More than a review, this episode positions storytelling as a form of resistance and inquiry—an essential tool for understanding how technology shapes societies, and how Africa can move from the margins of innovation narratives to a position of agency and authorship.

In this opening episode of My African Bookshelf, Jii ;a former librarian, invites you into a different kind of library: a living shelf of African stories across books, albums, films, and oral traditions. This is not a podcast about reading or watching for leisure alone, but a thinking space for memory, meaning, and method. We talk about why stories matter, how they freeze a moment in culture, and what they reveal about power, identity, and how Africans are seen—by themselves and by the world. You will also hear about the first work on the shelf, Empire of AI by Karen Hao, and why a book about artificial intelligence belongs in a conversation about African futures.