What does it mean to make AI safe for Africa?

As artificial intelligence reshapes societies worldwide, global debates on AI safety often reflect the priorities of major tech powers. This talk shifts the focus to the African context, where questions of governance, infrastructure, and social impact take on unique dimensions. It explores risks ranging from the malicious use and malfunction of AI systems to the broader systemic consequences of deployment across the continent. But AI safety in Africa isn’t only about preventing harm—it’s about shaping technologies that actively serve the continent’s development goals and uphold its values.

Speaker: Dr Samuel Segun (Global Centre on AI Governance)
Date: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Time: 14:00 - 15:00 SAST
Venue: Online via MS Teams

 

About our Speaker:

The Pursuit of AI Safety in Africa - Dr Samuel Segun

Dr. Samuel T. Segun is a Senior Researcher at the Global Center on AI Governance. His research focuses on AI safety, data and computational ethics, algorithmic audit, and responsible AI practice.

He is the author of the book New Conversations on the Problems of Identity, Consciousness and Mind (Springer, 2019); and editor of AI, Ethics and Policy Governance in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2024); Conversations on African Philosophy of Mind, Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence (Springer, 2023); Selected Issues in the Ethics of AI (Springer 2022).

Dr Segun is a Research Fellow at the African Observatory on Responsible AI, and the AI Ethics Group at the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR), University of Pretoria. He currently serves as a Consultant to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism on the project AI and Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE). He previously served as the AI Innovation & Technology Consultant for the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), leading the development of a Toolkit on Responsible AI Innovation in Law Enforcement, an INTERPOL-led project. He was also a reviewer for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Guidelines for the Development of a National Strategy on AI in Security and Defence.