Speaking back to AI (and ourselves): Generative epistemic (in)justice in intercultural communication education

This chapter examines how generative AI (GenAI) technologies intersect with epistemic (in)justice in intercultural communication education, drawing on the author's experience teaching at English-medium universities in Qatar. While artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT offer new possibilities for language access and exercising interculturality, they also risk flattening linguistic diversity, marginalizing non-dominant epistemologies, and erasing students’ distinct voices. Drawing on Kay et al.'s concept of “generative epistemic injustice,” the chapter focuses on three dimensions: amplified testimonial injustice, hermeneutical ignorance, and hermeneutical access injustice. Through an example comparing a Palestinian student's writing to GenAI output, the chapter illustrates how AI systems tend to default to so-called neutral stances that reflect the perspectives of those with power. It argues that educators must approach AI as a sociotechnical actor embedded within and shaped by inherited epistemic hierarchies. Building on Dervin and R'boul's notion of “un-writing interculturality,” the chapter also calls for educators and students to become “guerrilla interlocutors,” critically speaking back to AI by interrogating its outputs, asserting lived experiences, and engaging in reflective dialogue with themselves. Through this critical self-examination, they can challenge their own assumptions and practices and actively imagine alternative epistemic futures.