Artificial Intelligence (AI) Deployments in Africa: Benefits, Challenges and Policy Dimensions

Abstract

The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is proliferating on the African continent, but policy responses are still at their early stages. This article provides an overview of the main elements of AI deployment in Africa, AI’s core benefits and challenges in African settings, and AI’s core policy dimensions for the continent. It is argued that for AI to build, rather than undermine, socio-economic inclusion in African settings, policymakers need to be cognisant of the following key dimensions: gender equity, cultural and linguistic diversity, and labour market shifts.

Towards an ethics of AI in Africa: rule of education

“…In [33], the authors provide an overview of key elements of AI deployment in Africa, key benefits and challenges of AI in African contexts, and key policy dimensions of AI for the continent. According to the authors, If African countries want to build inclusive AI ecosystems, informed policymaking is essential.…”

Machine Ethics and African Identities: Perspectives of Artificial Intelligence in Africa

“…African technology hubs of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya already deployed successfully AI methods, and even smaller countries like Ghana, Uganda and Ethiopia participated. Most applications so far focused on the health sector, agriculture and financial services (Gwagwa & Kraemer-Mbula & Rizk, 2020). The number of African tech startups grew significantly in the past years.…”

“…Therefore, African philosophers like Sabelo Mhlambi called for a 'decolonisation' of AI. The latter allegedly undermined African dignity and human rights by developing machine ethics without regard to interconnected systems of inequality, race, gender, cultural and linguistic diversity, and labour market shifts (Mhlambi & Jahnke, 2021;Gwagwa & Kraemer-Mbula & Rizk, 2020). Thereby, the European concept of the rationality of AI denies Africans and other indigenous people, at least implicitly, alternative realities (Mhlambi & Jahnke, 2021;Kohnert, 2007).…”

Road map for research on responsible artificial intelligence for development (AI4D) in African countries: The case study of agriculture

“…5 Machine learning and other disruptive technologies offer an opportunity to address this imbalance and give realistic prospects of upending the economic order while creating new sources of value for the benefit of all. 6 , 7 However, the shake-up that can conceivably be borne from the application of these technologies to real-life environmental and industrial problems is not without its risks and adverse consequences; each technology raises issues of concern, and regulators and governments will be required to create or adapt new policies and protocols to ensure that the adverse consequences are addressed. 8…”

“…5 Machine learning and other disruptive technologies offer an opportunity to address this imbalance and give realistic prospects of upending the economic order while creating new sources of value for the benefit of all. 6,7 However, the shake-up that can conceivably be borne from the application of these technologies to real-life environmental and industrial problems is not without its risks and adverse consequences; each technology raises issues of concern, and regulators and governments will be required to create or adapt new policies and protocols to ensure that the adverse consequences are addressed. 8 By adopting Smith and Neupane's definition of AI as ''an area of computer science devoted to developing systems that can be taught or learn to make decisions and predictions within specific contexts,'' 8 this paper examines the actual and potential impacts of AI in areas like selective breeding, automatic plant management, identifying biological anomalies, spatial planning, and analyzing soil and weather conditions for precision farming.…”