South Africa's Minister of Communications, Mondli Gungubele, emphasized the country's need to stay abreast of AI advancements, citing its potential economic benefits at a national Artificial Intelligence summit hosted by the department.
The minister reportedly stated that certain regulations must be implemented to institutionalise open AI. These regulations, however, would apply to developing continental and national AI policies and programmes.
Besides, the government intends to establish an AI Expert Advisory Council to advise on developing and implementing AI policies and regulations.
Professor Vukosi Marivate, an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the "ABSA UP" Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria will lead the AI task force in collaboration with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. He will also contribute to selecting experts for the AI Expert Advisory Council.
Vukosi specialises in developing Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, with a particular emphasis on the intersection of ML/AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Moreover, stakeholders at the summit discussed approaches to a "better AI future" in South Africa, such as policies, regulatory experiments, and defining the country's expectations from AI. They also discussed plans to understand AI's technological capabilities, define the technology, and mitigate its potential negative effects.
According to the Minister in his keynote address, “The role and potential of AI in assisting the world to get the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals back on track by 2030 is an imperative and a responsibility that every nation of the world must be seized with.
“We must as a continent recognise that increased availability of digitised data in the global economy, unlimited access to computing power and lower data storage costs are important in driving the growth of AI globally.”
Meanwhile, the market for generative AI, which creates new data, ideas, and content such as text, imagery, audio, and synthetic data, is expected to reach $0.89 billion by 2024 on the continent.
Following the summit, the Minister stated that he expects a clear path forward for maximising AI to address some of the country's economic and social challenges.
Artificial intelligence (AI) recognition has accelerated globally and in Africa, raising concerns and highlighting the need for regulation. Benin, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia have reportedly developed national AI strategies, but none have implemented formal AI regulation.
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