Introduction
“There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code, that have grouped to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul.”
For a second, picture the world as a game, and laws as the rules of the game. Now imagine that you have reached a level where the game can imitate real human voices, faces and has its own cognitive abilities to the extent that you do not know what’s real. With all that in mind, how do we continue to play the game of life when we cannot trust anything online?
Artificial Intelligence is a phrase we have all heard for years, yet policymakers seem to have fallen behind its introduction, which shows a clear divide between digital creators and lawmakers. In the Good Global Summit held in Geneva on 6-7 July 2023, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) spoke on promoting AI in health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure, and other global development priorities.
Interestingly enough, both the AI Government Summit and Good Global Summit seem to promote the need for Artificial Intelligence despite all the risks involved, which begs the question, do our governments understand the power and danger of Artificial Intelligence?
What is AI?
Simply put, AI is a machine’s ability to perform functions associated with humans, such as reasoning, learning, interacting with the environment, problem-solving, and even exercising creativity[1]. IBM defines Artificial Intelligence as “technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities”[2].
Currently, artificial intelligence is about teaching machines to think and learn like humans, to automate work, and to solve problems more efficiently, the most commonly known are AI assistants like Siri in iPhones and Chat GPT.
AI Regulation in South Africa
In South Africa, Artificial Intelligence remains vastly unregulated as there is no formal legal framework to govern it. In response, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies published an Artificial Intelligence Planning Discussion Document to initiate the conversation between the public and private sectors to develop an AI regulatory framework to guide the use and development of AI in South Africa. The key takeaways from the discussion document were: -
1. The need for the government to develop education and training programs for AI literacy
skills to address future AI skill requirements; and
2. Competition and risk concerns (i.e. job losses; anti-competitive behaviour through a
concentration of AI models between a small number of technology players); and
3. Loss of control of AI models that could be detrimental to humanity (I guess they also
watched Terminator); and
4. Developing and implementing a regulatory framework over the period 2025 – 2027; and
5. National strategy for AI to enhance manufacturing; agriculture; military capabilities;
energy transition; and healthcare sectors to name a few.
The Introduction of the European Union AI Act
In April 2021 the European Commission proposed an AI Act to address the challenges faced from technology advancements and risks associated with artificial intelligence. The legislative process was then halted by the introduction of Chat GPT in December 2022.
Instead of focusing on all the economic benefits and productivity opportunities of AI, the AI Act looks at defining AI, listing prohibited AI systems, requiring fundamental rights impact assessments from public bodies before using AI, classification of high-risk AI systems etc.
Conclusion
Reading the AI Act and Artificial Intelligence Planning Discussion Document shows that European and African priorities differ. From a South African perspective, the discussion document is based on regulating the economic benefits of AI, whilst the AI Act looks to control the use and abuse of AI. With the adoption of the first prominent AI legislation in the European Union and a lot of territories following suit, it will be interesting to see how effective the legislative laws would be in ensuring that AI is used to its full potential without abusing human rights and exploiting peoples works without fair compensation.
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