  Cultural code-switching concerns how we adjust our overall behaviours,
manners of speaking, and appearance in response to a perceived change in our
social environment. We defend the need to investigate cultural code-switching
capacities in artificial intelligence systems. We explore a series of ethical
and epistemic issues that arise when bringing cultural code-switching to bear
on artificial intelligence. Building upon Dotson's (2014) analysis of
testimonial smothering, we discuss how emerging technologies in AI can give
rise to epistemic oppression, and specifically, a form of self-silencing that
we call 'cultural smothering'. By leaving the socio-dynamic features of
cultural code-switching unaddressed, AI systems risk negatively impacting
already-marginalised social groups by widening opportunity gaps and further
entrenching social inequalities.
