In a public speech that has been delivered recently by Deputy Director-General of Artificial Intelligence Institute and Academician in the Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (ASTU), Taye Girma (PhD) with regard to the Artificial Intelligence, challenges and opportunities in Ethiopia, stressed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a good computer and machine leverage to mimic problem-solving and decision-making technology.
Dr. Taye stated that but AI is not a silver bullet. According to Dr. Taye’s reflections, despite its beneficial implications in medicine, crime prevention and security, search engines and tele-services, including entertainment AI’s character is over marketed and exaggerated.
He also implied that AI is an essential aspect of the health sector through early detection, classification, and collecting disease predictions.
On the other hand, crime investigation, forensic analysis, and fraud detection capabilities have all raised the AI sector’s importance.In the Civil Engineering field, it has been used for BIM, overcoming high costs, identifying and mitigating risks.
As per the data presented by Dr. Taye, 35 percent of Ethiopia’s GDP and 70 percent of the labor force are accumulated in the agricultural sector. Side with this, crop-related diseases combined with a double food consumption rate in 2050 require a serious solution, which is why the institute is established in the recent period.
Government service in Ethiopia is characterized by; lack of accuracy, redundancy of tasks, extended bureaucracy, corruption and lack of transparency.
Ethiopia’s Artificial intelligence Institute has developed a smart city camera system and a Chabot for the banking pilot study. Moreover, credit/loan default prediction mechanism and AI-based site prediction technique including NLP made by the institute is promising for a brighter future.As it has been mentioned, the role of EAII will be to prepare, national AI policy, legal and regulatory framework, foster quality AI education, strengthening AI research, quality dataset, raising public awareness and to underline the AI ethics.
He explained that owning such a valuable experience on AI, the institute is technically supporting universities in curriculum developments and in related areas.
To deepen awareness in the sector of AI, a two-day seminar is being undertaken on 03/16/2022 at the Artificial Intelligence Institute with the theme “understanding AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Big Data”.
Stakeholders and invited guests had taken part at the seminar. Addressing the seminar, Engineer Worku Gachena, Director General of the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute, stated that the benefits of artificial intelligence should be used for Ethiopia’s economic and social development.
He stated that there needs to be a lot of awareness creation on the value of Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Big Data.
In relation to this, Engineer Worku Gachena said that the Institute of Artificial Intelligence will discharge its responsibilities to create this awareness of the seeds.
Dr. Rosa Tsegaye, Head of Natural Language Processing Division at the Artificial Intelligence Institute and Dr. Michael Melese from Addis Ababa University also presented a paper on the nature of artificial intelligence, including Natural Language Processing and Big Data.
AI will have far reaching consequences throughout the region and across the globe. The Asia-Pacific is leading from the front and is forecast to be the prominent market of the future.
This prominent position, however, means governments need to think carefully about the role and scope of AI in pursuit of sustainable development. Specifically, governments must address the ethical dilemmas, develop a workforce fit for the future, put in place adaptive and anticipatory regulation, incentivize the private sector to act responsibly, and utilize AI to deliver more efficient public service delivery, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) .
This will require thoughtful research and policy formulation, cross-government cooperation, intergovernmental knowledge-sharing and consensus-building and honest, open and regular discussion with the civil society and private sector, specifically technology developers.
However, governments currently lack the necessary coordination and processes to prepare for an AI revolution. Nonetheless, the revolution will come, and the United Nations could play a greater role in helping the region navigate this future.
This is consistent with another UN report which states that “very little is known about the potential impact of modern technologies on low-income countries”.
Accordingly, the purposes of this paper are not only to present key findings and conclusions but also to inspire and engage policy makers, experts and the public to debate on the topic, so that AI can be better understood in the region and the potential benefits from applying AI can be better explored.
Increasingly useful applications of AI, with potentially profound positive impacts on our society and economy are likely to emerge between now and 2030, international report considers.
At the same time, many of these developments will spur disruptions in Substantial increases in the future uses of AI applications, including more self-driving cars, healthcare diagnostics and targeted treatment, and physical assistance for elder care can be expected.
How human labor is augmented or replaced by AI, creating new challenges for the economy and society more broadly. Application design and policy decisions made in the near term are likely to have long-lasting influences on the nature and directions of such developments, making it important for AI researchers, developers, social scientists, and policymakers to balance the imperative to innovate with mechanisms to ensure that AI’s economic and social benefits are broadly shared across society.
If society approaches these technologies primarily with fear and suspicion, missteps that slow AI’s development or drive it underground will result, impeding important work on ensuring the safety and reliability of AI technologies.
On the other hand, if society approaches AI with a more open mind, the technologies emerging from the field could profoundly transform society for better in the coming decades.
BY HAFTU GEBREZGABIHER
The Ethiopian Herald March 25/2022
