Promoting Hausa Language via AI and Digital Tools

Abstract

This study investigates the representation, performance, and limitations of the Hausa language across selected Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital platforms, with a view to identifying strategies for its more effective promotion and preservation. The study adopts a qualitative content analysis design, examining how ChatGPT and Google Translate process Hausa text, idiomatic expressions, and proverbs, alongside an analysis of AI-generated Hausa speech content circulating on social media platforms and a review of Hausa text-handling support in digital writing applications such as WordPad. The study is anchored on three theoretical frameworks, namely Language Preservation Theory, Language Education Theory, and Digital Humanities Theory, which together illuminate why accurate AI representation of Hausa matters for the language's continued vitality, how AI tools may support or undermine language learning, and what is culturally at stake when AI systems misrepresent Hausa linguistic and cultural content. The findings reveal that although Hausa has gained some visibility in digital environments, its integration into advanced AI systems remains limited and inconsistent: AI tools such as ChatGPT demonstrate clear potential for supporting Hausa language teaching and learning, yet they consistently struggle with complex grammatical structures, dialectal variation, and culturally embedded vocabulary, as illustrated by the recurring mistranslation of proverb terms. Similarly, AI-generated Hausa speech content on social media exhibits persistent tonal and pronunciation inaccuracies, reflecting the broader shortage of high-quality Hausa speech and lexical datasets available for AI training. The study recommends sustained collaboration among linguists, AI developers, government institutions, and Hausa-speaking communities to achieve meaningful integration of Hausa into AI technologies.