Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly embedded in teaching, learning, assessment, research, and academic support across higher education. At the same time, South African universities continue to pursue the unfinished project of decolonisation as they seek to transform curricula, broaden epistemic participation, and create conditions under which diverse forms of knowledge can be recognised, produced, critiqued, and legitimised. These developments are often discussed separately, yet they increasingly intersect in ways that raise important educational, philosophical, and practical questions.

This webinar explores the relationship between AI and the decolonial project by moving beyond questions of technological adoption and algorithmic bias. Instead, it examines how AI participates in the educational practices through which knowledge is accessed, interpreted, created, communicated, evaluated, and recognised within higher education. The session will critically engage questions surrounding Indigenous Knowledge Systems, multilingualism, curriculum transformation, academic judgement, human agency, and the role of universities as sites of knowledge production.  Rather than arguing for or against AI, the webinar invites participants to critically reflect on how South African higher education can engage AI in ways that strengthen rather than diminish its transformative aspirations. Ultimately, the session asks whether the challenge is simply to adopt AI responsibly, or to rethink the educational conditions under which knowledge is created and valued in an increasingly AI-mediated world.