Is Uganda ready for Artificial Intelligence?

In the early the late 80s and early 90s, in a partially post conflict Uganda, and at a time when many of us were growing up, nobody imagined a carrier in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) or cyber security, simply because these fields did not exist and were almost unfathomable. 

And yet, today, almost all businesses and establishments, from governments, multinationals to small and medium enterprises are driven by technology and confronted by its downside.

A couple of months ago, while placing an order for furniture, I spoke to an elderly man, about 60 years of age. I will call him Okot. 

He was the owner of the business from which I needed to place an order. Mr Okot advised that it was important to physically visit the space in which the furniture was to be placed, for specific measurements based on preference. I greed to his proposal and sent him a pin location, whose details he used to navigate and arrive at the exact agreed upon location. 

When I received him, I was impressed that he had not attempted to call me for verbal directions. On the other hand, Mr Okot seemed troubled and said, “This thing that shows these accurate directions of someone’s location is not good”. 

I asked him why it was not good, yet it just saved him time and money? To which he responded, ‘anyone can now find you, you can no longer hide’. 

For a moment, I was shocked by his response until it dawned on me how scary it can be to lose your privacy or have no absolute control of your life’s affairs. 

These among many other things are the realities of Artificial Intelligence (AI). While they may be scary, especially for Mr Okot and his generation, they are a way of life for the younger generation of digital natives. 

AI is simply about computers being able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence while acting on data through statistical analysis that enables them to understand, analyse, and learn from data through specifically designed algorithms. 

This simply means that machines are replacing humans and that jobs will continue to be lost as less humans will be needed to perform tasks. While this comes with opportunities, the threats are enormous. 

For so long, AI was considered alien or far-fetched but here we are now experiencing the realities of it in a fast paced technologically advanced world. The mobile phones and computers that we interact with, the business transactions that we make, the assistive technologies that we use are all powered by AI. 

And while it is important to acknowledge the transformational role of AI in all spheres of our lives, we must now introduce the risks, without scattering the pigeons. The reality is that we have to start looking at AI from a 360 –degree perspective. It is no longer business as usual. 

The year 2023 was one of AI regulatory frameworks in many countries in the global north.  These regulatory stances all came against a backdrop of several concerns regarding AI technology development, such as, safety and security, privacy, transparency, consumers and workers’ protection, accountability as well as promoting innovation and competition. 

Unsurprisingly, these conversations on AI regulation have not featured prominently in Africa despite its vast potential and application, especially towards health and Agriculture through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones.

The lack of relevant technical skills, inadequate basic and digital infrastructure, insufficient investment in research and development, limited data and the lack of flexible and dynamic regulatory systems continue to be responsible for the slow adoption and application of AI in Africa.

However, where AI it’s going, is up to us. Because as humans come up with new technologies, we evolve with them too. Are we ready as a continent? How about as Uganda?

Ms Maureen Agena is a technologist | development communications consultant. @maureenagena