What connects popular rapper/singer Drake, former president Donald Trump and Pope Francis? All of these disparate personalities have been subject to recent treatment by Artificial Intelligence (AI). (1) Mock photos and copycat songs may seem a far cry from the way AI has been rendered in popular culture, especially Hollywood in fims like The Terminator, The Matrix, Blade Runner and Minority Report. (2)
In one sense the reality is far less dramatic, for now. In its simplest terms AI is machine learning and many everyday devices that display reasoning or problem solving like smart phones, games and computers utilise it. (3) However, there is concern about the speed at which developments are taking place. A number of tech leaders and academics are calling on “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.” (4) There is apprehension about GPT-4, through its ChatGPT tool’s potential to be “competitive with humanity’s best at almost any task.” (5)
Thus, AI is predicted to get increasingly involved in tasks like hospital admissions, school administration and police deployment and even “cloning your deceased loved ones”. (6) As indicated above we are already at a stage where AI generated photographs, music and ‘deepfake’ videos are getting harder to distinguish from the real thing. Indeed, one commentator even goes as far as to suggest: “Deepfakes Are Going To Wreak Havoc On Society. We Are Not Prepared.”(7)
Against all this are the persistent stories of AI’s “race problem” from driverless cars being more likely to drive into Black pedestrians (8), to facial recognition technology criminalising innocent Black people (9) to asserting that “Being a white man is more morally acceptable than being a black woman.” (10) In essence, AI is said to be learning its racism from developers in an industry that is overwhelmingly white and male (11) as well as from internet content. (12)
Some commentators suggest that the only way to fix the situation is to make the tech industry more diverse and reflective of the communities it serves. Grave consequences are predicted if this fails to happen in that anti-Afrikan bias will be permanently locked in. In fact, Azanian broadcaster and political commentator Bobby Brown goes as far as to suggest that “Artificial Intelligence Progress Could Destroy Africa.” (13)
(1) Shannon Bond (27/04/23) AI-generated deepfakes are moving fast. Policymakers can’t keep up.https://www.kacu.org/2023-04-27/ai-generated-deepfakes-are-moving-fast-policymakers-cant-keep-up
(2) Benedict Neo (2022) ‘Top 20 Must-Watch Artificial Intelligence movies.https://towardsdatascience.com/top-20-movies-about-machine-learning-ai-and-data-science-8382d408c8c3
(3) Natalie Morris (01/04/20) The race problem with Artificial Intelligence: ‘Machines are learning to be racist’https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/01/race-problem-artificial-intelligence-machines-learning-racist-12478025/
(4) Future of Life Institute (31/03/23) FAQs about FLI’s Open Letter Calling for a Pause on Giant AI Experiments. https://futureoflife.org/ai/faqs-about-flis-open-letter-calling-for-a-pause-on-giant-ai-experiments/
(5) Ibid.
(6) Natalie Morris (01/04/23) The race problem with Artificial Intelligence: ‘Machines are learning to be racist’. https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/01/race-problem-artificial-intelligence-machines-learning-racist-12478025/; Dominic Norton (17/04/23) Bringing Back the Dead: Cloning Your Deceased Loved Ones with Artificial Intelligence Technology. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bringing-back-dead-cloning-your-deceased-loved-ones-dominic-norton?trk=public_profile_article_view
(7) Paul Glynn (18/04/23) Sony World Photography Award 2023: Winner refuses award after revealing AI creation. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65296763; Mark Savage (17/04/23) AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song goes viral. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65298834; Rob Toews (25/0) Deepfakes Are Going To Wreak Havoc On Society. We Are Not Prepared. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going20-5/to-wreak-havoc-on-society-we-are-not-prepared/
(8) Morris, Op. Cit.
(9) Michaela Jeffery-Morrison (10/04/23) ChatGPT has a racism problem – and there’s only one way to fix it. https://metro.co.uk/2023/04/10/chatgpt-has-a-racism-problem-and-theres-only-one-way-to-fix-it-18552334/; BBC News (08/04/23) Facial recognition tech: Liberty ‘police racism’ claim. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65214494.
(10) Jeff Parsons (10/04/23) Artificial intelligence turns racist after learning from humans.’https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/10/artificial-intelligence-turns-racist-after-learning-from-humans-15575220/?fbclid=IwAR1KOuowq8FSVhuYyTXR8Iu_iiNJXbLya92GSp3A7VeI3R98IGLXod_2qmU
(11) Morris. Op. Cit; Morrison. Op. Cit.
(12) Parsons. Op. cit
(13) Bobby Brown (23/03/23) How Artificial Intelligence Progress Could Destroy Africa. https://smilefm.co.za/ai-progress-could-destroy-africa/
we ask the question:
Are we ready for Artificial Intelligence?
1) Will temporarily pausing AI development make a diffrence?
2) Are Deepfakes really going to wreak havoc on society?
3) Does AI have a racism problem?
4) Will a more ‘diverse’ tech industry make AI more responsive to the communities it serves?
5) What influence can Afrikan people exert on the development of AI?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of 40 years standing and is author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Bro. Dominic Norton: is an experienced, impact-driven social entrepreneur and the founder of Missing Black People, a comprehensive tech-enabled platform that brings awareness to missing black people cases worldwide. With a professional background in technical product management and a postgraduate diploma in Business Administration & Management from the University of London, Dominic utilises his experience to build impact-driven initiative and to help over 11,000 entrepreneurs on TikTok do the same using “No Code”. As a fellow of On Deck and creator-in-residence for #100DaysofNoCode, Dominic is highly experienced in software development which has led him to becoming a guest lecturer in University of California, All Nations University, APTech Computer Education in Uganda and more.
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