Francis N. Reginio, Sajed Sayde Ingilan, Andi Asrifan
As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly integrates into English Language Teaching (ELT) in Southeast Asia, it changes pedagogic ethics, teacher agency, and cultural equity. This chapter examines the ethical and epistemic dimensions of AI-driven tools, especially in marginalized areas, like Indigenous Peoples' (IP) communities, madrasah, and rural Indonesian schools. Based on Kant's, Rawls', Gilligan's, and Foucault's frameworks, it uncovers the ways in which hegemonic AI tools tend to standardize language and push localized pedagogical relations to the margin. Categorized into core themes, the narratives from the Southeast Asian teachers reveal algorithmic bias and the moral and emotional contradictions in AI adoption, most notably the loss of emotional labor and the marginalization of indigenous knowledge systems. The research makes a case for an ethical shift and appeals to a humanizing approach that re-centers teacher agency, protects learners, and sustains plural Southeast Asian values to revolutionize ELT-AI as an ethical praxis grounded on care, justice, and empowerment. Copyright © 2026, IGI Global Scientific Publishing. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global Scientific Publishing is prohibited. Use of this chapter to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited. The publisher reserves all rights to license its use for generative AI training and machine learning model development.
University of Southeastern Philippines, Philippines; Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia
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