{"id":112089,"date":"2026-10-08T14:57:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=112089"},"modified":"2026-10-08T17:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:14:14","slug":"ai-research-explores-digital-divide-in-black-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/10\/ai-research-explores-digital-divide-in-black-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"AI research explores digital divide in Black communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: Brock University <\/em>announced the creation of its\u00a0annual Black Scholar Research Grant (BSRG)<\/em><\/a> in 2025<\/em>. Visit The Brock News<\/a> to read more about BSRG recipients and their research. <\/em><\/p>\n

As more people use artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate everyday life, Anteneh Ayanso wants to ensure no one is left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Black Canadians are disproportionately excluded from the benefits of advanced technologies because of a variety of historical and systemic inequities,\u201d says the Brock University Professor of Information Systems.<\/p>\n

Beyond access to devices or platforms, Black communities need the skills, resources and conditions required to use AI in ways that can improve education, employment and broader life outcomes, he says.<\/p>\n

Ayonso\u2019s research focuses on information and communications technology (ICT) development and the \u201cdigital divide\u201d between those who are able to access and use the Internet and those who aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, he published a study<\/a> examining how ICT development\u00a0\u2014 supported by the investment of adequate resources \u2014 can boost countries\u2019 economic and political stability.<\/p>\n

With support from Brock\u2019s Black Scholar Research Grant<\/a>, Ayanso shifting the spotlight from the international to the local level through his latest project, Bridging the AI Readiness Gap in Black Communities in Canada.<\/p>\n

The research doesn\u2019t view Black Canadians as a homogenous group, Ayanso says, or assume Black Canadians have a lack of capability when it comes to AI use.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Canadians are a rapidly growing and highly heterogeneous population, but structural differences in income, education, employment and institutional access may affect opportunities to participate in and benefit from AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research, which Ayanso is co-leading with Associate Professor of Information Systems Shuai Yuan, aims to answer three questions:<\/p>\n