Further concerns about AI for Nigeria and the global South, By ‘Tope Fasua

For Nigeria and the Global South what are the socioeconomic developmental modules in AI so far? How can we leverage on AI to solve problems in poverty, food security and sovereignty, education, illiteracy, weak infrastructural backbones and so on? These should be our concerns, beyond how AI can make individuals and companies richer. In fact, the majority of aggressive marketing around AI that we see online is about how it can make you rich personally, by giving you the edge over others.

I earlier wrote an article titled, “The coming over-reliance on AI and the superiority of human intelligence” and I’m glad that I stepped up to the phenom, rather than expect someone else to do so. They say knowledge expands when you take on the unfamiliar. Perhaps I could develop this new vista that is already changing the way we live into a reference point. And our timidity around new phenomena as a people is often why we have missed many of the epochs of development – the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Industrial Revolutions – and why, unfortunately, if we don’t perk up and get involved, a great many epochs may miss Africa and the global South and have us playing second fiddle, over and over.

The concern in my initial article was that, as usual, we may end up seeing this new phenomenon – Artificial Intelligence – as something to buy off-the-shelf from somewhere, to show class with, to sequester as a possession of the super-rich, to use to power the 1 per cent of 1 per cent further into wealth, or for use by capitalist wannabes to get more efficient in the rat race. Everything but robust, inclusive and sustainable development which we need so badly in Nigeria and the global south. I was also concerned about the ethical issues – the use of AI for cheating in examinations which has left the Academia in a quandary as existing anti-plagiarism competences are failing, just as the deliberate deployment of Artificial Intelligence for the purpose of taking undue advantage keeps getting smarter on a daily. Then I tried to show that in spite of AI’s incredible capabilities at the moment, and the likelihood that as it gets smarter, it will astound the world the more, human intelligence still remains superior.

I still believe that AI lacks the advantage of having epiphanies, eureka moments, or identifying serendipity. It is also important to note that whereas AI can write a great profile for any company in a matter of minutes, for now, AI cannot be deployed to perform entirely physical tasks such as physically building a house, or constructing an aeroplane, without human interference and supervision. For those jobs, physical, human intelligence and exertion of energy are still required.

I have been further enamoured of my position after severally listening to Fadhel Kaboub, the Tunisian intellectual speaks eloquently about Africa’s lack of food, power/energy, technological, and value-added goods sovereignty. It looks like a long shot for us to get to AI sovereignty here, having missed out on these other sovereignties. So, can we rescue any real value here beyond doing what we colloquially refer to as ‘borrow pose’? In fact, the other day, I clicked on an AI course online to try and see the content, and the next thing I was getting rather frantic call from a US number by someone with a thick Indian accent, trying to rush me into the paid program. I blocked his number. It looks like there is a band of people wishing to mystify AI in order to make quick money from it. From what I’ve seen so far, no one really has to go looking for AI. It has come looking for all of us. It is there on every device you hold and it will get more aggressive. You can train yourself around how to use AI.

…from the nature of AI it is evident that multi-stakeholder approaches are what will work. We need everyone chipping in as every opinion counts. The best ideas about the use of AI for solving tangible problems will come from the most unlikely of quarters. Older people who see themselves as less tech savvy should not be intimidated as to leave the anchoring of AI deployment in the hands of young people who may not have the depth and life experience required to maximise the positive impact of AI in society.

And that is where some of my concerns come to reality. For Nigeria and the Global South what are the socioeconomic developmental modules in AI so far? How can we leverage on AI to solve problems in poverty, food security and sovereignty, education, illiteracy, weak infrastructural backbones and so on? These should be our concerns, beyond how AI can make individuals and companies richer. In fact, the majority of aggressive marketing around AI that we see online is about how it can make you rich personally, by giving you the edge over others. Yes, it can make your work faster, neater, more professional. It can enable your company to churn out paperwork, emails, proposals, writeups etc that look like the work of genius. But will it intrinsically make you better? Build your brain for more capabilities? Or make you more aloof, and lazier, and more self-obsessed?

The next level now is to go collective. Indeed, as more companies and individuals adopt AI, standards will be raised in society. Will we end up leaving so many people behind?  It is therefore the duty of early adopters, and those with techie minds to ensure that AI is harnessed to solve real developmental problems like those I listed above. AI will not leap and solve the problems itself – we must deploy intelligently.  We shouldn’t also wait until foreigners come here to use the same AI that is available for everyone to solve problems that we could have solved ourselves? That has always been our tragedy.

Furthermore, from the nature of AI it is evident that multi-stakeholder approaches are what will work. We need everyone chipping in as every opinion counts. The best ideas about the use of AI for solving tangible problems will come from the most unlikely of quarters. Older people who see themselves as less tech savvy should not be intimidated as to leave the anchoring of AI deployment in the hands of young people who may not have the depth and life experience required to maximise the positive impact of AI in society. Whereas I am concerned herein with the economic impact of AI, but sociologists, psychologists, engineers, philosophers, medics and the rest also have perspective on the concerning issues and should let their voices be heard. This is not another thing to leave to government and politics so that we can point that ‘they’ did not do this or that!

…there are new emerging concerns around AI. I have seen folks raise issues around copyright. AI is built on available data. The data is generated by all of us. But if a few companies make money on the back of everyone’s data, what should be due to the creators of the data? Should there be a point where consent is sought and given? The same issue of consent has been raised against predictive AI. When you are typing an article and suggestions appear around the construction of sentences etc, what that means is that the AI is reading your document. Some people have complained about the intrusion and distraction.

Already, there is the faulty assumption among core enthusiasts that AI is innately designed to counter the deployment of its capabilities for fraud. This is far from the truth. I had cause to interact with a top executive from US-based Visacard and he regaled me about fantastic frauds where people’s voices are cloned to get access to their accounts – or homes. Just think about any possibility under AI and someone can make it happen. There will most likely be issues that will come up that haven’t been imagined, when you have such a global phenomenon. There will surely be unknown unknowns, unimagined black swans that will come up due to global adoption. As regards the likelihood of AI creating more unemployment, I believe it’s a major concern for governments especially in the Global South and in Nigeria, and I am not comforted by the usual glib retort that AI will create new jobs as new technologies have done in the past. New jobs for who? Perhaps for people who are at the cutting edge of knowledge. For now, we are safer to assume that unemployment will result and to think about how we can mitigate. 

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In 1962, after a spate of the granting of independence to African countries (at the prodding of the US which naturally required that being the leader of the world it couldn’t bear the idea of weaker nations like UK, France and Spain still tethering vast territories of the world to their colonial apron strings), European countries came together to plan for their food sovereignty which meant less reliance on food coming from colonial territories. This is what led to African nations ending up focusing on cash crop exports to survive – and caring less about the very food their own people eat. It also coincides with the beginnings of a discounting of African exports through devaluation. At independence, many African currencies were at par with the currencies of colonial nations. By the mid 1980s the story changed. But their agriculture was also controlled by colonial companies. Over time, we have seen a different picture emerge. This example is apposite for us to learn how the global north thinks far ahead. They have done the same around AI. How can we own the phenomenon, beyond buying to use for firefighting purposes?

Finally, there are new emerging concerns around AI. I have seen folks raise issues around copyright. AI is built on available data. The data is generated by all of us. But if a few companies make money on the back of everyone’s data, what should be due to the creators of the data? Should there be a point where consent is sought and given? The same issue of consent has been raised against predictive AI. When you are typing an article and suggestions appear around the construction of sentences etc, what that means is that the AI is reading your document. Some people have complained about the intrusion and distraction. These are global concerns that will hopefully be resolved in time. Well, it is great to continue to interact with this unshakeable development that redefines so many things. Especially in this new age of trade restrictions and mutual edginess, nations should strive not to be caught dozing.

‘Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, and entrepreneur, can be reached through [email protected].