- Minister Blade Nzimande says that if South Africa doesn’t prioritise AI as a country, “we are all in trouble.”
- Nzimande highlighted the threats and opportunities around AI adoption locally.
- South Africa already has a draft policy in place for the future regulation of AI technology.
South African science and technology minister Blade Nzimande highlighted “unprecedented threats” that the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses for the South African economy and its society at the first-ever Summit on the Transformation of South Africa’s National System of Innovation (NSI) held last week.
“If you don’t prioritise Artificial Intelligence we are all in trouble as a country,” said Nzimande during his keynote. “I take this mandate very seriously.”
He said that is likely that technological innovations that will be made in the next 25 years will eclipse all other innovations made since the dawn of civilisation, and South Africa needs to be ready.
At the same time, the minister said that AI presents enormous opportunities for South Africa if it is properly exploited.
Last year, the Department of Communications and Digital Technology revealed the draft framework for the future implementation of AI regulations in South Africa.
“For South Africa to exploit the full potential of AI, the country needs to carefully take into consideration
ethical, social, and economic implications, ensuring that AI benefits are broadly shared, and risks are
managed effectively,” the framework reads.
“The policy framework emphasizes the importance of human-centred AI, ensuring that AI applications
augment human decision-making rather than replace it. By safeguarding professional responsibility and promoting human values, the framework ensures that AI development aligns with societal and ethical considerations,” it explains.
The framework also seeks to develop AI-focused education, support the creation of a digital infrastructure in South Africa that is AI-enabled, begin efforts of local research into AI, create ethical guidelines for the usage of AI, and find a way to use AI in government to enhance the efficiency of service delivery.
This final pillar is set to feature in the future in regard to South Africa’s National System of Innovation (NSI), which Nzimande and his department are overseeing. A system that promotes technological and scientific innovation in South Africa, across government departments, businesses, and academia.
At the inaugural summit, Nzimande says that his department received a number of recommendations from attendees in order to address why the NSI has yet to yield the desired outcomes post-apartheid.
“These recommendations will contribute to the development of additional policy and institutional mechanisms aimed at transforming our National System of Innovation and making it more agile and responsive to our national priorities such as poverty, inequality, unemployment and of course the production of the necessary scientific skills for our country,” explained the minister.
Publically, South Africa is yet to embrace the latest generative AI technologies, but the private sector is readily looking into generative AI for more efficient systems and automation.
[Image – CC BY-ND 2.0 GovernmentZA on Flickr]
