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"Without God's healing, AI cannot do much"
In this Episode 8 of Ndëp, we spoke with Amina Alaoui Soulimani, a doctoral research fellow at HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town. Her PhD, part of the Future Hospitals: 4IR and Ethics of Care in Africa research cluster, explores human-technology relations in hospital settings and algorithmic infrastructures in Morocco. Holding an MSc in Social Anthropology from the LSE, her research stems from a critical observation of medical failures—bodies left unattended in hospital corridors, deaths due to negligence.
She highlights how, in cancer care in Morocco, high-tech medicine and Sufi spirituality coexist. Physicians often attribute the success of medical technologies to divine will, creating a tension between technocentrism and theology. The oncology space thus becomes a site where the future of both patients and medicine is negotiated.
Her approach identifies three key challenges for decolonizing medical AI: recognizing local knowledge systems, addressing territorial inequalities in healthcare access, and ensuring Moroccan sovereignty over system design and data governance.
To learn more:
Akhmisse, Mustapha. Médecine, magie et sorcellerie au Maroc, ou, L’Art traditionnel de guérir. Dar Kortoba, 2000.
Berrami, Hind, Zineb Serhier, Manar Jallal, et Mohammed Bennani Othmani. « Understanding and Use of Artificial Intelligence Among Doctors in a University Hospital in Morocco ». In Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, édité par Mauro Giacomini, Lăcrămioara Stoicu-Tivadar, Gabriella Balestra, Arriel Benis, Stefano Bonacina, Alessio Bottrighi, Thomas M. Deserno, et al. IOS Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI230781.
Hannoum, Abdelmajid. The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
Laroui, Abdallah. The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Pandolfo, Stefania. Knot of the Soul: Madness, Psychoanalysis, Islam. University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Sadiki, Reda. Médecine et colonialisme au Maroc sous protectorat français. En toutes lettres, 2021.
Soliman, Ann A., Mouna Khouchani, et Elisha P. Renne. « Sociocultural Barriers Related to Late-Stage Presentation of Breast Cancer in Morocco ». Journal of Cancer Education 34, no 4 (1 août 2019): 735‑42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1365-1.
Soulimani, Amina Alaoui. « ‘We Sent Your Blood to France’: A Moroccan Study Case of Genomic (Im)Mobility ». In The Politics of Knowledge in the Biomedical Sciences, édité par Jonathan Jansen et Jess Auerbach, 217‑36. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31913-6_11.
Music: "Journey To Ascend" Kevin MacLeod - Licensed under Creative Commons : By Attribution 4.0 License http://crativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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By Oumy ThionganeIn this Episode 8 of Ndëp, we spoke with Amina Alaoui Soulimani, a doctoral research fellow at HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town. Her PhD, part of the Future Hospitals: 4IR and Ethics of Care in Africa research cluster, explores human-technology relations in hospital settings and algorithmic infrastructures in Morocco. Holding an MSc in Social Anthropology from the LSE, her research stems from a critical observation of medical failures—bodies left unattended in hospital corridors, deaths due to negligence.
She highlights how, in cancer care in Morocco, high-tech medicine and Sufi spirituality coexist. Physicians often attribute the success of medical technologies to divine will, creating a tension between technocentrism and theology. The oncology space thus becomes a site where the future of both patients and medicine is negotiated.
Her approach identifies three key challenges for decolonizing medical AI: recognizing local knowledge systems, addressing territorial inequalities in healthcare access, and ensuring Moroccan sovereignty over system design and data governance.
To learn more:
Akhmisse, Mustapha. Médecine, magie et sorcellerie au Maroc, ou, L’Art traditionnel de guérir. Dar Kortoba, 2000.
Berrami, Hind, Zineb Serhier, Manar Jallal, et Mohammed Bennani Othmani. « Understanding and Use of Artificial Intelligence Among Doctors in a University Hospital in Morocco ». In Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, édité par Mauro Giacomini, Lăcrămioara Stoicu-Tivadar, Gabriella Balestra, Arriel Benis, Stefano Bonacina, Alessio Bottrighi, Thomas M. Deserno, et al. IOS Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI230781.
Hannoum, Abdelmajid. The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
Laroui, Abdallah. The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Pandolfo, Stefania. Knot of the Soul: Madness, Psychoanalysis, Islam. University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Sadiki, Reda. Médecine et colonialisme au Maroc sous protectorat français. En toutes lettres, 2021.
Soliman, Ann A., Mouna Khouchani, et Elisha P. Renne. « Sociocultural Barriers Related to Late-Stage Presentation of Breast Cancer in Morocco ». Journal of Cancer Education 34, no 4 (1 août 2019): 735‑42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1365-1.
Soulimani, Amina Alaoui. « ‘We Sent Your Blood to France’: A Moroccan Study Case of Genomic (Im)Mobility ». In The Politics of Knowledge in the Biomedical Sciences, édité par Jonathan Jansen et Jess Auerbach, 217‑36. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31913-6_11.
Music: "Journey To Ascend" Kevin MacLeod - Licensed under Creative Commons : By Attribution 4.0 License http://crativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/