Abstract
Language is essential for honouring and preserving cultural histories, as it is crucial in
shaping relationships, worldviews, and identities – which is deeply implicated in
exercising power (Alexander, 2005 and Hao, 2022). In large part, due to the history of
colonialism and dispossession, the language of power in post-apartheid South Africa
is English (Alexander: 2005). This can be placed in the context of the attempts by
liberation movements that were concerned about the new constitution they felt would
not consider the language rights of non-English speaking people (Tshivenda, isiZulu,
Sesotho), amongst others.
Language’s centrality in technology or the expression of AI through language should
be evaluated to consider whether the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) can be
harnessed for equity or instead will necessarily worsen digital divides.
In light of this, the following research question was developed: What are experiences
and perceptions of company executives, developers, engineers and architects, and
clients of HLTs in the banking sector in a multilingual society.
To understand the importance of traversing the research gap in the lack of the
integration of other South African languages in virtual assistants, Fairclough’s (1992)
critical discourse analysis will be explored. This theoretical framework is essential in
comprehending indigenous languages’ influence in enabling or disabling financial
inclusion and the underrepresentation of other South African languages in virtual
assistants. This study employed an interpretive qualitative methodology. This
exploratory study aims to unravel and unearth rich and useful information by placing
the ideas around VAs or chatbots in context through analysis for the best meaning and
report. Moreover, this study employed a semi-structured interview guide which allowed
for an informal conversation with stakeholders, knowledgeable participants, and bank
customers
My findings demonstrate that while the integration of indigenous languages in VAs is
great in theory, in practice accommodating the rich diversity of languages spoken in
South Africa runs counter to the pressures of the market. Policies are therefore
required to ensure that HLTs like virtual assistants incorporate indigenous languages.
The government may also subsidise the development of Free and Open-Source
solutions for use in the public sector. These policies can be developed in conjunction
with local communities, who can provide feedback on their experiences using virtual
assistants.
Keywords: Virtual Assistants, Language, Financial Exclusion, Digital Banking, Free
and Open Source, Localisation.