How to effectively manage emerging technologies such as general purpose AI systems is a pressing global challenge. Vincent Obia, who recently received his PhD from Birmingham City University, explains what African countries can do to take a more active role in managing AI.
Since the advent of the Internet, Africa has largely been the recipient of new communication technologies and the international norms that come with them. As Kate Klonick has shown, this was the case with social media, where countries outside the US had to work out terms of service based on the US legal framework. Developing countries have little say in developing, influencing, or challenging these norms, and for Africa this essentially means operating within rules set by outsiders.
A similar pattern is emerging with the rise of general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT, a large language model. Africa has once again found itself at the receiving end of AI technologies, but this time, the continent – and it can influence their rules.
In order to successfully manage the overall objective, the continent must seek a bold and comprehensive approach to multi-stakeholder regulation. This is a function of controlling social media targeting internet users and emerging from the practice of platform management. Regulation.
Current Practice: Targeting Internet Users Regulatory Attachment
One approach that falls short when it comes to regulating general purpose AI is the existing practice of regulating internet users through legislation and other regulatory tools, which I refer to in my recent article as regulatory attachment. As shown in the figure below, I defined a regulatory framework as an extension of criteria, principles, and constraints that were originally defined for another framework.
Figure: Control attachment model
An example of regulatory evasion in most African countries involves the use of legal and technological measures to tackle online fake news and hate speech. For example, I found during my research that at least 33 of the 54 countries on the continent have legal policies such as laws, registration requirements and social media taxes or technological tools such as targeted internet bans. African governments tend to introduce such measures because of their desire to exercise similar control over highly regulated internet content.
Examples can be seen in Egypt and Lesotho where social media users with large followings are registered and managed as internet broadcasters. Laws or proposed laws in most African countries mirror the Tanzanian law that designates Internet users as publishers.
These regulatory measures often target freedom of expression and do not adequately address the problems associated with online harm. This is because the Internet and social media cannot be subject to the same regulatory style as traditional broadcast media. And if these measures are not sufficient for social media, they will not really succeed in general purpose AI regulation.
Emerging Practice: Regulating Online Platforms through Common Regulation
Some African governments seem to be beginning to realize the limitations of the regulatory attachment model, where users face fines and/or imprisonment. This has forced a shift towards common-law regulation of online platforms, to some extent with the European approach set out in the Digital Services Act.
This legislative approach divides online platforms into categories and allocates different care activities. For example, in Africa, Nigeria introduced the 2022 Code to regulate computer service platforms. Reports also indicate that Egypt is considering a law that would require registration of social media platforms.
It should be noted that African countries are mostly Western countries where digital platforms are lying on the balance of power. In other words, what influence can African countries have on these platforms? For example, in the case of Uganda and Google, we know that platforms can reject requests from African countries. A similar pattern can explain AI regulation. The speed of AI development and the dynamics of power in the game are emerging. Pop-up
Recommended Action: A comprehensive and comprehensive multi-stakeholder protocol
In order to manage AI effectively, what is needed is an international multi-stakeholder system in which Africa must be ready to actively participate. The continent’s leaders should learn from their mistakes of unproven social media regulations that focus on internet users or derive from live forum regulation.
In my recent post, I propose that countries around the world should agree to create, adopt, and implement a uniform code of conduct in any AI-related forum or headquarters to deal with the risks and dangers associated with general-purpose AI. in their jurisdiction. Prominent figures in technology have recognized this and have called for a six-month pause in the training of AI systems to allow governments and other stakeholders to formulate policies to combat AI threats. This was followed by a statement signed by top AI experts that reducing AI risks should be a global priority.
As important as this may seem, the expectation is that the major powers in North America, Europe and East Asia will lead – or rather dominate – the creation of guidelines on safe AI, a point computer scientist Stuart Russell notes. African countries may not be actively involved in designing these policies, meaning Africa may be governed by AI systems and regulations where it has little say. This is the case with social media and internet governance debates, where few developing countries participate and even fewer manage to shape the agenda.
Hence the need for inclusion in developing a general purpose AI regulation with active contributions from African countries. The African Union should be at the forefront of this campaign. As a start, the African Union could strengthen its proposal to establish a regional strategy and working group on AI, taking into account the broader risks, not just the problems with data flow and protection. Individual African countries such as Mauritius and Tunisia have also begun to develop their own AI strategies, a point noted in the 2022 Government AI Readiness Index. But, again, these strategies focus on maximizing the (economic) benefits of AIA and are relatively simple when it comes to regulatory guidelines.
So what Africa can do is harmonize its position on the general regulation of AI and create international protocol canvases that the continent will play an active role in creating. The window for such an inclusive African protocol may be closing quickly.
This post It represents the views of the author and not the position of the Media@LSE blog or the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Featured Image: Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash
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