ItemBook Chapter

Beyond Lexical Accuracy: AI's Catastrophic Loss of Political Blood in Translating Lorde's Revolutionary Vernacular

Title
Beyond Lexical Accuracy: AI's Catastrophic Loss of Political Blood in Translating Lorde's Revolutionary Vernacular
Creator
Pujari, Jyoti Prakash; Dirghangi, Aditi
Description
This chapter examines how generative AI systems (ChatGPT-4o, Gemini 2.5) process the revolutionary poetics of Audre Lorde, revealing systematic patterns of grammatical standardization, affective dilution, and political neutralization. Through comparative analysis of three poems (Power, A Litany for Survival, Who Said It Was Simple) under minimal and culturally contextual prompts, the study demonstrates AI's architectural inability to preserve African American Vernacular English (AAVE), embodied metaphor, or radical tonality. These distortions-rooted in training data biases and fluency optimization-constitute epistemic violence by sanitizing texts where form enacts resistance. Findings expose limitations in developer frameworks prioritizing "harmlessness" over linguistic justice. The chapter proposes pedagogical strategies for critical AI literacy and urges redesign of systems to honor marginalized epistemologies. Ultimately, it argues that tools shaped by dominant grammars cannot ethically translate insurgent voices. 2026, IGI Global Scientific Publishing. All rights reserved.
Source
Cultural Considerations for Effective Digital Transformation in Education;pp.27-50
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
IGI Global
Coverage
Pujari J.P., Christ University, India; Dirghangi A., Christ University, India
Rights
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
Relation
ISBN: 979-833733675-6; 979-833733673-2;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Book chapter

Citation

Pujari, Jyoti Prakash; Dirghangi, Aditi, “Beyond Lexical Accuracy: AI's Catastrophic Loss of Political Blood in Translating Lorde's Revolutionary Vernacular,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 19, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/24754.

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