Steve Adetunji Adeshina, a professor of Computer Vision and Engineering at Nile University of Nigeria, has said that Nigeria can leverage the abilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address some of its urgent challenges.
He noted that AI can be utilised to tackle Nigeria’s medical, electoral, and security issues.
Adeshina, who delivered the second inaugural lecture of Nile University titled “Machine Intelligence vs Human Intelligence: Can Machines Outperform Humans?” emphasised that rather than fearing AI’s potential to take over the world, we should focus on harnessing its capabilities to address Nigeria’s pressing issues.
He highlighted that the adoption of AI systems in healthcare was essential for improving diagnostic accuracy and personalizing treatment, alongside establishing a framework for collecting and integrating local medical data to address racial and regional disparities in disease diagnosis.
“The integration of AI technologies in healthcare can enhance diagnostic accuracy and personalize treatment.
“It is recommended that healthcare providers and institutions adopt AI systems to improve diagnostic accuracy, personalise treatment plans, and streamline administrative processes. This includes investing in AI-powered diagnostic tools, patient monitoring systems, and decision support systems.
“Emphasis should be placed on ensuring these systems are rigorously tested, validated, and integrated in ways that complement and augment human expertise.
“To address the limitations of existing models trained on non-African populations, Nigeria and Africa need a framework for collecting and integrating local medical data to ensure accurate disease diagnosis.”
The professor stated that the development and adoption of localised e-voting systems in Nigeria are essential for enhancing electoral efficiency and security, leveraging technologies like blockchain for secure results transmission and ensuring systems are tailored to local needs.
“The development and adoption of home-grown e-voting systems should be promoted to enhance the efficiency and security of electoral processes. Research and implementation efforts should focus on creating secure, transparent, and accessible e-voting platforms that increase public trust and participation in democratic processes.
“In this regard, the integrity of our electoral systems can benefit from AI and related technologies. Results transmission can be secured with distributed ledgers such as blockchain, and underage voters can be removed from the voters’ register with age classification and verification systems.
“Nigeria is ripe for full electronic voting systems, but they must be based on our local peculiarities. An imported electronic voting system without local modifications will fail woefully.
“Advances in visual recognition systems can help address security challenges in Nigeria by using real-time imagery from satellites and drones to identify unusual patterns of movement among bandits and insurgents, while CCTV footage analysis and AI-enhanced recognition systems can aid in identifying criminals in urban areas.”
However, he emphasised the importance of developing comprehensive ethical frameworks to address privacy, data security, and biases in AI systems.
Adeshina advocated for interdisciplinary collaboration among experts to create holistic solutions that enhance problem-solving and decision-making while considering the ethical implications of Artificial Collaborative Intelligence.
Dilli Dogo, a professor and Vice Chancellor of Nile University of Nigeria, emphasised the importance of human intelligence in driving machine learning. He highlighted the university’s commitment to skill-driven education and entrepreneurship to address national challenges.
“The lecture is crucial as it addresses key questions about artificial intelligence, particularly the relationship between machine and human intelligence. While machines can be innovative, they lack empathy and creativity, relying on human input to learn.
“The fear that machines will soon replace all human roles is unfounded, they require human abilities to function effectively. Human intelligence is essential in driving machine intelligence, and it’s important to recognise that machines will not take over completely. Additionally, machines are prone to errors and cannot be held ethically accountable, so human oversight remains vital.”
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