Researcher & Applied Anthropologist

I am a doctoral researcher in anthropology and educator, with a focus on data governance, digital archives, and the ethics of care in Southern Africa. My research draws on transnational ethnographic engagements in Southern Africa and Europe to interrogate how fragmented technologies and artificial intelligence reproduce bias, shape health systems, and influence social imaginaries. As an educator, I share these insights with university students, guiding them to critically engage with questions of data, knowledge, and innovation while also preparing them for professional work contexts in Southern Africa. My broader interests lie in human-centred innovation and in rethinking how technologies and archives can be democratized for marginalised communities.

ORCID: 0000-0001-5960-929X

My anthropology, cultural, and development studies have fascinated me with paradigms and tools supporting better livelihoods. I’ve immersed myself in research, technology and entrepreneurship spaces to think about how products can be better designed for people. My research on AI, data governance, and care ethics in Southern Africa bridges anthropology with technology, offering practical insights for designing more inclusive health systems, guiding innovation in startups, and informing policy on equitable digital infrastructures. Various grants and institutions, such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Mozilla Foundation, IFAS, and Margaret McNamara, have supported my research on AI’s relationship with Southern African communities.

Research

Artificial intelligence, digital neonatal management, care ethics and medical materiality in Zambia

The doctoral ethnographic project delves into the multifaceted nature of hospitals and medical plurality in Zambia resulting from the integration of digital technology. Focusing on a mobile clinic with telemedicine services established by a Zambian startup, the research explores how innovators customise digital functionality, build patient datasets and employ diagnostic artificial intelligence for prenatal care, collaborating with stakeholders to address healthcare issues. It also analyses the challenges in generalised datasets and inadequate public health facilities to improve care for vulnerable expectant mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the project examines institutionalised archives that have parallels with curated datasets, shedding light on the history of hospital infrastructure and the history of patient data that determines the state of AI for future diagnostics. In this era of AI-driven technology, the study shows the impact of adaptive solutions on the tangible aspects of medical practices, technologies, and objects within a cultural context, contributing to the fields of digital anthropology, medical materiality, and evolving care dynamics.

Public Engagement

Past:

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A reflection on the potential of AI to diagnose high-risk prenatal conditions, but its limitation when narrowly relying on biomedical markers and variables for datasets in communities presenting broader treatments and indicators outside of biomedicine.

Artificial intelligence (AI) advancements in healthcare rely on diverse, high-quality data. This report examines Dawa Health's AI integration into its maternal healthcare services in Zambia, exploring biases in datasets and technology. Ethnographic research highlights how DawaMom app users navigate its design, revealing gaps in meeting the unique needs of underrepresented expectant mothers in Southern Africa.

Indatshana echaza ukuswelakala kwamazwi esayensi awesiNdebele okudingakala ukwandisa imicabango exhumanisa izindimi zethu ezifundweni zesayensi.

An article that explains the lack of scientific terminology in Ndebele and the need to expand on scholarship that links African languages to scientific studies.