African Americans and Africans Need to Google and AI Themselves
and Their Businesses
Part 1
Podcast
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/william9186/episodes/African-VRE-Empowering-Youth-for-a-Digital-Future-e35a10t/a-ac1qi0u
William Jackson, MAT
CEO MetaverseWP & My Quest To Teach
Co-Founder of L&D Nexus (Dubai)
Board Member of World Metaverse Council (Slovenia)
Board Member of One Africa Forum (South Africa)
Member of L&D Africa (Nairobi)
Teacher with TESI (Lira, Uganda)
As a technology educator, professor, business owner
of 30yrs, keynote speaker globally, and international
mentor. In today’s digital age, it’s vital for African
American’s and Africans to take ownership of their
digital identity, content and visibility.
One powerful and often overlooked step is simply
Googling and AIing your own name and as a business
owner Google and AI your business. This isn’t about
vanity, it’s about vigilance as a business owner,
visibility to be seen, and voice that can be heard.
Understanding how your name, image, business or brand
shows up online is the a powerful step toward controlling
your narrative, especially in a world increasingly
shaped by Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality
and Internet of Things.
When you Google yourself and your business you’re
stepping into the same shoes as employers, law
enforcement, or even AI algorithms. You’re seeing a
digital reflection of how the world might perceive
you and how tech tells the world about you.
These “data sets” are important, as Dr. Kia Fu Lee
has repeatedly stated that “data is the new oil,”
businesses need to own their data and manage what
is shared and how.
This is critical for African American and African
professionals, creators, educators, and youth to
ensure their online footprint is accurate, empowering,
and protective of their future opportunities.
AI systems to search algorithms are trained on data
that often excludes or misrepresents Africans,
African Americans and those of the African Diaspora.
By researching how AI “sees” you through tools like
ChatGPT, PI.ai and Perplexity, or public data
repositories you can learn what the digital world
knows (or doesn’t know) about you.
The false narratives and the true narratives that
may or may not be shared are important.
For Black entrepreneurs, educators, artists, or activists,
this knowledge may help in building a powerful personal
brand and ensures that your achievements are accurately
recorded and searchable. AI is biased, racist, false
information and can either build a business or destroy
it from false content.
Be sure to know that if your African American or African
law enforcement is using AI for observation and monitoring
in those communities.
There should be efforts to teach youth and teens how to
search and analyze their digital footprint, to empower
them to take charge of their online digital legacy.
Whether it’s cleaning up social media, building a
professional LinkedIn presence, or contributing positive
content like blogs or videos, this is digital self-defense
and self-expression.
As William Jackson, CEO of MetaverseWP shares:
“If African Americans and Africans don’t shape their story
digitally, AI will write it for them. It may not be the
truth you want told.” The African writer Chinua Achebe
has stated, “until the lion writes his own story, the
hunter only tells one side.” So, don’t wait for others
to define you online. Google yourself, AI yourself,
research yourself and business in AI. Then write, post,
build and brand the legacy you want the world and
AI to know.
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ONE AFRICA FORUM – Official Website of One Africa Forum