There's a tension in the impact of AI on Africa. Making Africans healthier, better educated and informed? Or is it the next colonisation?
It’s a good question: will AI (artificial intelligence) benefit or disadvantage Africa? We’ve picked up a few reports with varying answers to this in the last few weeks.
The first we noticed was The Economist - which predictably saw AI as improving market readiness:
Developing countries have gaping shortages of skilled workers: there are nowhere near enough teachers, doctors, engineers or managers.
AI could ease this shortfall, not by replacing existing workers, but by helping them become more productive, argues Daniel Björkegren of Columbia University, which in turn could raise the general level of health and education.
Although AI may also eliminate some jobs, the IMF predicts that labour markets in poorer countries will be less disrupted than those in rich ones.
Another tantalising possibility is that AI could help provide fine-grained, up-to-date data about poor places, and so assist in all manner of development work.
The Economist goes on to report on Somanasi, a learning platform accessible to African smartphones (and a curricular aid to teachers, called Hodari.) In terms of health, mDaktari gives medical advice for a small fee. For the environment, the magazine profiles Atmo, which uses AI to give advance meteorological warming to clients.
The Economist concludes: “AI could help make whole populations healthier, better educated and better informed. In time, that could make them a lot less poor.”
A different take from UN News, quoting from Sedyina Moussa Ndiaye
The biggest threat [of AI to Africa] for me is colonization. We may end up with large multinationals in AI that will impose their solutions throughout the continent, leaving no room for creating local solutions.
Most of the data currently generated in Africa is owned by multinationals whose infrastructure is developed outside the continent, where most African AI experts also operate. It’s a loss of African talent.
The other important element to consider is in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. The power of AI combined with advances in biotechnology or technology could be used, and Africa could be the place where all these new solutions are actually being tested.
If it’s not supervised, we could end up with tests that would take place on humans with chips or even integrated biotechnology elements that we improve. These are technologies that we don’t really master well. In regulatory terms, there are certain aspects that have not been considered. The very framework for the application of ideas and existing regulations is not effective.
In concrete terms, and when you don’t control these things, it could happen without anyone knowing. We could have Africa being used as a Guinea pig to test new solutions, and this could be a great, great threat for the continent.