A Case Study of Representational Harm of South Sudanese Girls & Women

A Case Study of Representational Harm of South Sudanese Girls & WomenSouth Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 as the outcome of a 2005 agreement that ended Africa's longest-running civil war. Made up of the ten southernmost states of Sudan, South Sudan is one of the most diverse countries in Africa. It is home to over 60 different major ethnic groups. Independence did not bring conflict in South Sudan to an end. Civil war broke out in 2013 when the president fell out with his then-vice president, leading to a conflict that has displaced some four million people. A power-sharing agreement was signed between the warring parties in August 2018 in a bid to bring the five-year civil war to an end.South Sudan has been known as a country ravaged by war and negatively portrayed in the media. With the world being a global village, the proliferation of technology and the recent introduction of Generative AI exaggerated gender biases have amplified stereotypes. An extreme example was created when BuzzFeed published an article about A.I.-generated Barbies from different countries worldwide. The results contained severe forms of representational bias - including colorist and racist depictions, which AI image generators are often prone to doing. Notably, the Barbie from South Sudan was depicted holding a rifle by her side.Based on this case study, we will focus on building an open-science Bari Language generative AI dataset that inclusively represents South Sudanese girls and women.