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Short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to clarify the colonial logics that underpin green extractivism in Canada. Through a critical discourse analysis of ‘green mineral’ narratives as advanced by the state, I argue that justifications of AI extractivism significantly depend on colonial ontologies which devalue the natural world as Nonlife.

Long abstract:

Drawing on environmental media studies, theories of data colonialism, and Povinelli’s (2016) geontologies, this paper analyzes discursive strategies deployed to legitimize AI extractivism in Canada. In the face of anthropogenic climate change, Canada has made substantial investments into both AI and ‘green’ mineral industries. Research has widely documented the environmental consequences of AI supply chains, including the toll of mineral extraction projects on communities and the natural resources data centers and machine learning consume. To justify the socio-environmental costs of these extractive sectors, discursive strategies of social licencing are adopted to green extractivism: AI is conflated with climate solutions to rationalize the devastating effects of digital supply chains. The aim of this paper is to clarify the colonial logics that underpin green extractivism in Canada. This is addressed by a critical discourse analysis of dominant narratives of ‘green AI’ and ‘tech minerals’ as advanced by the state in policies and public statements, and Big Tech corporations in environmental reports, press releases and other sources. I argue that justifications of AI extractivism significantly depend on colonial ontologies which devalue the natural world as Nonlife, raising questions about the Western epistemological frameworks that underpin environmental discourse. In doing so, this paper emphasizes how green extractivism depends on the ongoing suppression of Indigenous knowledge about Land and Life – while simultaneously demarcating what and who is expendable in the quest for green futures.