Global Center on AI Governance Partners with Data for Policy for Africa-Focused AI Ethics Track at 2024 Conference

In September, after a strategic consultation with key stakeholders from East and South Africa held in Nairobi, Kenya, the Global Center on AI Governance(GCG) through the African Observatory on Responsible AI project partnered with the Data for Policy Community. This partnership led to the first-ever Africa-focused special track on AI, Ethics and Policy Governance in Africa at the just concluded Data for Policy 2024 Conference held in Imperial College, London, England. 

The Data for Policy conference held from July 9 to 11 2024 at the Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College, London, brought together researchers from academia, government, and industry. The conference attracted a diverse audience from various regions globally, bringing together various perspectives and professionals with a shared interest in data-driven policy making. The conference featured themes and discussions, highlighting the importance of anticipated and sustained dialogue around data for policy making on a global scale.

The African Observatory was represented by Dr Samuel Segun at the pre-conference strategic convening on Understanding, Facilitating, and Connecting AI and Data Science Futures in Sub Saharan Africa’s Public Sector held on the 8th of July 2024. The workshop set the stage for dialogue, assembling leading thought leaders and professionals to address issues related to the data and AI ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa. This meeting aimed to propose actionable interventions, with participants offering informed contributions to expand the efforts of the Data for Policy Community within sub-Saharan Africa. 

Session 4B of the Special Track on AI, Ethics and Policy Governance in Africa

Two sessions were organised under the Africa-focused special track led by the Global Center on AI Governance through the African Observatory. The sessions were chaired by our CEO, Dr Rachel Adams and Senior Researcher, Dr Samuel Segun. Some of the thought-provoking papers and their authors under these special track include:

•  “Are Certain African Ethical Values at Risk from Artificial Intelligence?” By Samuel Segun, PhD - Global Center on AI Governance and The African Observatory on Responsible AI, South Africa.

  
  

•  “Artificial Intelligence, Digital Colonialism and the Implications for Africa’s Future Development” By Aishat Salami (LLM, CIPP/E) - Technology Consulting and Research, Veeta Advisory Hub, Lagos, Nigeria.

  
  

• “Should we communicate with the dead to assuage our grief? An Ubuntu perspective on governing griefbots” By Connor Wright - LCFI, University of Cambridge, UK, Montreal AI Ethics Institute, Montreal, Canada.

  
  

•  “The ethics at the intersection of artificial intelligence and transhumanism: A personhood-based approach” By Amara Esther Chimakonam - Centre for Phenomenology in South Africa, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa. (Remote Presentation)

  
  

• “Responsible artificial intelligence in Africa: Towards policy learning” By Paul Plantinga, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa; Kiito Shilongo, Mozilla Foundation, Namibia; Oarabile Mudongo, Consumers International, Botswana; Angelique Umubyeyi, Independent, South Africa; Michael Gastrow- Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa; and Gabriella Razzano, OpenUp, South Africa. (Remote Presentation).

  
  

• “Trust Norms for Generative AI Data Gathering in the African Context” By Abiola Joseph Azeez, University of Ottawa, Canada; and Tosin Adeate, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria.

  
  

• “Case Studies of AI Policy Development in Africa” By Kadijatou (Kadija) Diallo-Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts; Jonathan Smith-Meta, Menlo Park, California; Chinasa T. Okolo, Ph.D., Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution, Washington D. C., United States; Dorcas Nyamwaya, Equiano Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; Jonas Kgomo, Equiano Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; and Richard Ngamita, Equiano Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

  
  

• “Social Justice Considerations in Developing and Deploying AI in Africa” By Getachew Hailemariam Mengesha, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Elefelious Getachew Belay, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; and Rachel Adams, Global Center on AI Governance. (Remote Presentation).

These sessions provided valuable insights into the unique challenges and opportunities in data and AI governance across Africa and the foundational contextual ethical principles that should drive these conversations. Some of the key insights shared in these talks include:

• Collaboration over New Governance: Rather than creating new legislative bodies, it's better to collaborate with existing digital governance entities on the continent.

  
  

• UNESCO's Ethical AI Guidance: The UNESCO recommendation on the Ethics of AI could help establish both local and international policy frameworks.

  
  

• Community Empowerment: Empowering and educating local communities can drive AI policy and governance changes, facilitating public sector adoption.

  
  

• Data Collection Challenges: Collecting data in sub-Saharan Africa is difficult due to the division of knowledge into public and esoteric categories, requiring an understanding of socio-cultural values to access information.

  
  

• AI Readiness Assessments: Current AI readiness assessments may underestimate Africa's readiness due to context-specific indicators; future assessments should consider technology infrastructure, adoption speed, geopolitical and economic contexts, and regional cooperation.

As part of the GCG’s collaboration with Data for Policy, these presented papers would lead to the production of a special issue to be published in the Data and Policy journal in September 2024.