New initiatives of machine learning (ML) have become sites of controversies about technoscience, innovation, and global inequalities in Africa. ML is often framed as a technological answer to long-standing debates about development and modernization in African societies. For example, the African Union 2063 agenda envisions smart technology including AI as playing a pivotal role in an overarching vision of an African Renaissance, a shift from anti-colonial struggle to inclusive social and economic development in a globalized world. On the other hand, many local AI advocates contend that AI development may not be responding to the needs in the local context leading AI to exacerbate problems of injustice in the continent. This situation is further problematized by growing transnational interest of several nation states including Canada, Sweden, Germany, China and the US in AI development in Africa.

Fyler, EthicsLab event

Date and Time: Thursday, 1st August, 2024 (15:00-16:30 SAST)
Venue: Online (Microsoft Teams, Registration required)