“The robots are coming” has become a rallying cry for sceptics who believe evil forces will be unleashed on mankind with all life control lost to super intelligent machines powered by AI technology.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence. In other words, it is the ability of digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.
Supporters of artificial intelligence believe that while some jobs will necessarily need to give way for robots that will do them better, new jobs will be created and humans can make machines work for good.
In Africa where job opportunities are scarce with millions of graduates out of jobs and man-made calamities are an everyday occurrence, it makes sense to doubt the intentions of machines that think like humans. How do you control a machine? Importantly, who gets to ensure that these machines actually work for people and not against people?
At the 2018 Website Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Sophia the social humanoid developed by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics which has full citizenship in Saudi Arabia, once again displayed what is possible in the future world of artificial intelligence. Ben Goertzel, chief executive officer of SingularityNet and chief scientist at Hanson Robotics disclosed at a press conference which BusinessDay attended, that so far sixteen Sophia’s have been made while five are active. He expects Sophia and its kind to get more intelligent as they learn from human interactions fed through algorithms. However, he says there is no “guarantee” that they will always be used for good.
Africa, at the moment, may not be experiencing advanced forms of artificial intelligence like Sophia; it is nonetheless witnessing transformations that could only be possible with the integration of the technology.
The entire financial service sector has seen major disruption as a result of financial technology companies (fintechs) using artificial intelligence to make loans accessible to small businesses and individuals, encourage a savings culture, spur new health sector enterprises and agribusinesses, and power rural homes with energy. It has dented the high unemployment rate creating new job opportunities like data scientists, programmers, developers and AI tutors. The reality is artificial intelligence is being infused into most things that companies and individuals make these days. And the more consumers use these innovations, the more intimate data belonging to them are mined.
Gradually but steadily, a new culture of artificial intelligence is emerging. It is crude, driven mostly by hunger and poverty and not research, it is lawless and fawned by ignoramus. To be fair, those qualities are not unique to countries in Africa; artificial intelligence all over the world is seen as in its early stages. This is why a lot of investment is going into research that will increase understanding and address issues of safety around AI.
Unfortunately, most of the African governments seem occupied enough to care so much about a new technology that has little bearing to the problems they are currently facing. It leaves the new challenge of keeping AI responsible firmly in the hands of private businesses. But how do you trust corporate organisations to act responsibly with a technology as powerful as AI? Can a corporate entity with plans to drastically reduce its operating cost by replacing human workers with robots act responsibly?
Some may ask, “Is the risk of AI getting out of control immediate?” Maybe not. Should it then be ignored? No.
“The all-encompassing capture and optimisation of our personal information – the quirks that help define who we are and trace the shape of our lives – will increasingly be used for various purposes without our direct knowledge or consent,” Eleonore Pauwels, research fellow on Emerging Cyber Technologies at United Nations University (UNU), said on Saturday, 17 November, 2018.
The threat of AI has become so real that the European Commissioner for Competition Margaret Vestager said at the Web Summit that the only promise of a better world with technology rests on the rules put in place to make those markets work well – including competition.
If there must be rules for artificial industry, leaving it in the hands of private businesses is a big bad idea. The United Arab Emirate (UAE), arguably the most AI friendly country in the world and the first to appoint a minister of artificial intelligence already has a team developing a document on AI principles and ethics. The intention is to commit companies to using technology to build a safer and more environmentally friendly world.
African governments can neither afford to wait for the rest of the world to figure it out first then leapfrog as always. There is no one-sides fit all in ethical solutions. Africa needs to be an active voice on the ethical table.
