Professor Sehaam Khan, University of Johannesburg (UJ) Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, opened the fifth edition of the Google Africa Internet Academy at the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) by emphasising the profound and widespread impact of AI on society.
The two-day workshop, hosted by the Centre for Data and Digital Communications and the AI Hub on September 11-12, 2023, gathered leaders in business and technology to explore current trends in technology policy and regulation while offering valuable insights and opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the technology and related fields from across the continent.
Prof Khan continued: “It is our job to ensure that AI plays a role in creating the world we want to live in and minimising the risks and the negative, unintended consequences.”
Prof Khan reinforced the University’s position as a leader in the technology space. She used the example of the emergence of Chat GPT and how it has far reaching implications for education.
“The impact of AI on our lives is no longer a question to consider for the future, instead it is a reality that we contend with daily. Transformational and seemingly overnight disruption is really not actually unexpected because we have made leading Africa into the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) core to our business.”
Prof Khan reiterated how AI was changing the human experience of the world, saying it had the capacity to enable current and future generations to live in a more prosperous, healthy and sustainable world. She also cautioned about the risks and challenges that AI comes with.
Dr. Alistair Mokoena, Google South Africa Country Director, underscored the significance of collaborating with academic institutions, highlighting Google’s active engagement in research and its pivotal role in promoting societal equality and advancing the realisation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals within our lifetime.
Dr Mokoena added that technology played a major role in unleashing the imagination of society. This year Google celebrates 25 years in their investment in technology.
“When we look at AI today, it has to be prefaced with responsible AI. It is by far the most exciting technology we have today at our disposal. It can transform the world, it is bigger than the internet itself, it can be a force for good. But let us not forget that in this ecosystem there are bad actors who might repurpose this technology for a negative end. We have to ensure that as we roll out more research and technology in the responsible AI space, it has to be safe, beneficial and drive equality for society.”
Dr Randall Carolissen, JBS Dean, spoke on the insights from the Global Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index for Government while Dr Jason Hickey, Head of Google Research: Ghana, gave a public lecture on AI for Good followed by a discussion with Prof Nicole Stremlau and Prof Abejide Ade-Ibijola form JBS.
The keynote address was given by Dr Mmboneni Muofhe, Deputy Director General, Department of Science and Technology.
The second day of the AI Africa Internet Academy focused on policies, opportunities, cloud services, security and AI, national security, and the UJ AI Hub.
Watch the keynote address here: