WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) ?
By Dr Michael Njume Ebong
According to the Oxford English dictionary, artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. However, the rapid development of AI in recent years makes this definition somewhat outmoded. For IBM (International Business Machines – www.ibm.com), artificial intelligence combines computer science and robust datasets to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning frequently mentioned in conjunction with artificial intelligence. These disciplines comprise AI algorithms which seek to create expert systems to make predictions or classifications based on input data. IBM further notes that AI has gone through many cycles of development, but even to skeptics, the release of Open AI’s ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) seems to mark a turning point. Furthermore, AI should be understood as a branch of the vast field of information and communications technology (ICT). Examples of other major branches of ICT include: mobile technology which consists of portable two-way communication devices, computing devices and the networking technology connecting them; financial technology or fintech which is concerned with enhancing financial services through digital applications; blockchain which focuses on building secure, decentralized digital ledger systems; 3D printing which enables the creation of a three dimensional object layer-by-layer using a computer-created design; and nanotechnology which is devoted to designing, producing, and using structures, devices, and systems by manipulating atoms and molecules at nano-scale through complex digital processes. These digital technologies, which at best are interrelated, are enabled by and share the same economic and digital infrastructures, as well as shared institutional and human capacities. As such, the development and diffusion of AI tend to be conditional on the existence of an enabling government vision, strategic policy direction and business environment, which are some of the preconditions necessary for African countries to share in the many potential benefits of artificial intelligence, as driver of their social, economic and technological development.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS: Just as history has demonstrated that, over time, new technologies provide the engine of economic growth and prosperity, so does the digital revolution, including AI in particular, carry the potential to transform Africa’s economic future and enhance the quality of life on the continent. However, the impact on each country will depend on several factors. The first is the political vision and will to pursue the new development opportunities inherent in AI and other underlying technologies such as the availability of Internet, and powerful computers connected to Cloud and datasets. In 2020 the African Union (AU) undertook to promote the potential development benefits of digital technologies, including AI, by adopting its Digital Transformative Strategy for Africa (DTS): 2020-2030 (www.au.int). The vision projected by this strategy is “an Integrated and inclusive digital society and economy in Africa that improve the quality of life of Africa’s citizens, strengthen existing economic sectors, enable its diversification and development, and ensure continental ownership with Africa as a producer and not only a consumer in the global economy”. The strategy’s overall objective is “to harness digital technologies and innovation to transform African societies and economies to promote Africa’s integration, generate inclusive economic growth, stimulate job creation, bridge the digital divide, and eradicate poverty for the continent’s socio-economic development and ensure Africa’s ownership of modern tools of digital management”. The strategy further notes that Africa presents a sea of economic opportunities in virtually every sector, and the continent’s youthful population structure is an enormous opportunity in the digital era and hence the need for Africa to make digitally enabled socio-economic development a high priority. The World Bank’s report released in March 2023 and entitled Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs (www.worldbank.org), presents a wide range of empirical evidence on the benefits of digital technologies in the public and private sectors in Africa, particularly in youth employment. However, to harvest those benefits some basic preconditions must be fulfilled.
PRECONDITIONS: According to Oxford Insights (2021) (www.oxfordinsights.org) the AI readiness of a nation rests on three pillars that capture and show the government’s capacity and readiness to implement AI in public service delivery and support innovation in the private sector. These include:
- The Government : This is the most important as the other pillars become dormant without a government’s vision and policy direction or desire to use AI for transformative purposes. The government should have a strategic vision for developing and managing AI, supported by appropriate regulation and attention to ethical problems (governance & ethics). Furthermore, it must have a robust internal digital capacity, including the skills and practices that support its adaptability in the face of new technologies.
- Technology Sector: The technology sector of a country plays a crucial role in implementing AI strategies as the government depends on a good supply of AI tools from its technology sector, which needs to be competitive and dynamic in size. This sector should have high innovation capacity, underpinned by a business environment that supports entrepreneurship and a good flow of Research and Development (R&D) spending. In addition, the skills and education of the people working in this sector are critical as the level and quality of human capital will determine AI productivity level.
- Data and Infrastructure: A country’s infrastructure and data capacity go a long way in determining its AI readiness. AI tools require lots of high-quality available data, which should represent all citizens within a given country (data representativeness) to avoid bias and error. Hence, to achieve this data potential, necessary infrastructure must be in place to power AI tools and deliver them to citizens.
CHALLENGES: AI readiness is still challenging in many African countries due to limited AI-supportive facilities and infrastructure. The availability of reliable electricity, poor internet connectivity, and computing power are vital tools for AI development, but many African countries still need to improve in these areas, besides good and stable governance In a 2018 article entitled Coming to Life: Artificial Intelligence in Africa, Aleksandra Gadzala of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center observed that the critical factors necessary for AI to take hold are woefully absent across most of the continent, and many African countries remain incapable of requisite reforms in the areas of data collection and data privacy, infrastructure, education, and governance. Without those reforms, there is little chance that most African nations will be able to benefit from AI technologies to advance sustainable development and inclusive growth. The specter of automation threatens to leave these countries behind. The same author finds that only half of African countries have carried out more than two comparable household surveys in the past ten years; just 29 percent have published household surveys with education data since 2005; statistical capacity has, over the last fifteen years, declined more in Africa than in any other region of the world.. These and other challenges notwithstanding, Africa offers some success stories in AI development and diffusion.
TRAIL BLAZERS As Aleksandra Gadzala points out, AI solutions are being successfully deployed at scale in some African countries and especially in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Most solutions currently target the financial services, agriculture, and health-care sectors. South Africa leads the continent in AI adoption with a robust ecosystem that includes numerous technology hubs, research groups, and forums like the AI Summit—which is sponsored by multinational companies including Intel, Sales force, Amazon, and IBM—and Singularity University’s South Africa Summit. There are an estimated one-hundred-plus companies in South Africa that are either integrating AI solutions into their ex-
isting operations or that are developing new solutions using AI. Elsewhere, technology giants including IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook are also making inroads. AI apps like UjuziKilimo, for instance, a precision farming app that uses machine learning and data analytics to help Kenyan farmers optimize their irrigation practices, relies on established SMS technology for its interface. In Nigeria, where mobile phone penetration is 84 per- cent and technology start-ups attract on average $73,000 in investment, ventures pursuing the AI market also leverage existing mobile solutions. Ubenwa, a Nigerian startup working to detect birth asphyxia, uses inbuilt smartphone microphones and speech recogni-
tion algorithms to identify the condition based on the amplitude and frequency of an infant’s cry. AI companies in African markets with robust digital foundations are able to capitalize on earlier waves of technological innovation and to leverage existing technology providers as early adopters—chatbots for financial technology (fintech) platforms, for instance. They also have at their disposal consumers who are generally familiar with and open to innovative tech-driven solutions.
Copyright: Dr Michael Njume Ebong
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