Evolutionary Trends in Kenya’s Digital Diplomacy in the Emerging Technological Space of Artificial Intelligence

This paper focuses on the evolving space of digital diplomacy in light of the changes taking place from the perspective of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It evaluates the key trends that are manifesting themselves in the shifting space of Kenya’s digital diplomacy and what the future holds. The paper is guided by three research objectives: first, it examines the key developments that have taken place in Kenya’s emerging digital diplomacy; secondly, it assesses the impacts that AI has presented to this digital diplomacy space; and thirdly, it investigates possible challenges of integrating AI in Kenya’s digital diplomacy. The paper is guided by the constructivism theory as propounded by Alexander Wendt for its theoretical framework. Constructivism challenges the classical beliefs applied in the conduct of interstate relations and underscores their socially-constructed nature. It advocates for transformative shifts in international relations where state actors create and assign meaning to structures that enable them to better achieve their national interests. The paper is guided by the pragmatic philosophy for its philosophical orientation. It relies on secondary data on digital diplomacy and AI from published data sources. The paper observes that there are new trends that present themselves towards the conduct of Kenya’s digital diplomacy in an era of AI. In addition, it submits that human skills have been the bedrock of diplomacy and AI only serves to augment such skills in order to enhance efficiency and precision in diplomatic practices. Lastly, the paper holds that, as a developing country, Kenya is predisposed to a myriad of challenges that she must mitigate so as to guarantee the integrity and proficiency of her digital diplomacy space. It presents recommendations on how Kenya can leverage AI to make its digital diplomacy responsive to the emerging technological reality.