  Educational disparities within the Dominican Republic (DR) have long-standing
origins rooted in economic, political, and social inequity. Addressing these
challenges has necessarily called for capacity building with respect to
educational materials, high-quality instruction, and structural resourcing.
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have begun to pique the interest of Dominican
educators due to their perceived potential to bridge these educational gaps.
However, a substantial body of AI fairness literature has documented ways AI
disproportionately reinforces power dynamics reflective of jurisdictions
driving AI development and deployment policies, collectively termed the AI
Global North. As such, indiscriminate adoption of this technology for DR
education, even in part, risks perpetuating forms of digital coloniality.
Therefore, this paper centers embracing AI-facilitated educational reform by
critically examining how AI-driven tools like ChatGPT in DR education may
replicate facets of digital colonialism. We provide a concise overview of
20th-century Dominican education reforms following the 1916 US occupation.
Then, we employ identified neocolonial aspects historically shaping Dominican
education to interrogate the perceived advantages of ChatGPT for contemporary
Dominican education, as outlined by a Dominican scholar. This work invites AI
Global North & South developers, stakeholders, and Dominican leaders alike to
exercise a relational contextualization of data-centric epistemologies like
ChatGPT to reap its transformative benefits while remaining vigilant of
safeguarding Dominican digital sovereignty.
