Western bias in AI writing tools raises concerns of “AI colonialism”

AI writing assistants powered by large language models (LLMs) developed by U.S. tech companies are inadvertently promoting Western cultural imperialism according to groundbreaking research from Cornell University. The study reveals how AI writing tools homogenize global communication by subtly steering users from diverse cultural backgrounds toward American writing styles and cultural references, raising urgent questions about technological equity and cultural preservation in an increasingly AI-mediated world.

The big picture: Cornell researchers have documented how AI writing assistants homogenize diverse writing styles toward Western norms, with Indian users bearing a disproportionate impact as their cultural expressions are systematically altered.

• The study, “AI Suggestions Homogenize Writing Toward Western Styles and Diminish Cultural Nuances,” is among the first to demonstrate concrete evidence of what researchers describe as “AI colonialism.”
• When both American and Indian users employed the same AI writing tools, their writing became increasingly similar, primarily at the expense of Indian cultural expression and linguistic nuances.

Key findings: Indian users experienced less productivity benefit from AI writing tools despite being more likely to accept AI suggestions.

• Indians accepted 25% of AI suggestions compared to Americans’ 19%, but frequently had to modify these suggestions to properly represent their cultural context.
• AI consistently inserted American cultural references while omitting or misrepresenting important cultural details about Indian festivals, food, and cultural artifacts.
• The research team observed Indian users describing their own cultural traditions “from a Western lens” after using AI writing assistants.

Why this matters: The homogenization of language threatens cultural diversity and reinforces Western dominance in global communication for the 85% of the world’s population living in the Global South.

• The researchers explicitly labeled this phenomenon “AI colonialism,” where Western-developed AI suppresses local cultures while presenting Western culture as the superior default.
• This cultural standardization occurs despite the good intentions of technology developers, highlighting how bias can be embedded in AI systems during their development.

Where we go from here: The Cornell Global AI Initiative is seeking industry partnerships to develop policies and create AI systems that better serve diverse global populations.

• Lead researcher Aditya Vashistha emphasized that while these technologies provide value, addressing cultural aspects—not just language capabilities—is essential for equitable global AI deployment.
• The findings suggest tech companies must prioritize cultural nuance to succeed in global markets and avoid reinforcing patterns of technological colonialism.