The Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, has said that, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to advance, certain jobs may be displaced, but it also brings about the creation of new jobs with even higher economic value.
In a podcast with The New Times' Sanny Ntayombya, the minister said the government was examining the potential job losses as well as opportunities for enhancement due to AI.
"And maybe the question shouldn't be jobs lost. I think it's what tasks get eliminated because you could remain with your job; a certain profile of a job, but certain tasks within that job," she explained.
Ingabire highlighted that, with AI, one no longer needs human beings to execute certain tasks because they could do a better job.
"Where that feeds now into is how do we revamp our education system in such a way that it's at par with the disruption that is going to come with not just AI but other technologies, robotics, anything to do with automation that we may see," she said.
Ingabire mentioned that in 10 years, the world could even have new technologies that people haven't thought about today, which could completely change the trends of the present.
She further stressed the importance of revisiting the approaches to reskilling and upskilling the workforce and reconsidering the education system's role in equipping individuals with the skills needed to effectively interact with technology.
"When you look at our national AI policy, you realise that 70 per cent of the policy is focused on skills. That was very intentional because we knew that, without the right skills, we would never be able to support the industry and its associated changes," she said.
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"We understand that the potential disruption that could come with tasks that are either augmented or automated requires us to reconsider even the education system and curriculum. We are rethinking some of these things so that when you graduate, you are already aware of which tasks will not be relevant for a particular job profile you have today."
Ingabire discussed the coexistence of humans and technology, noting that "it's not about replacing human beings with automation entirely, at least not in the immediate future. Rather, it's about the intersection of technology and its use cases, with a focus on how technology is designed."
She posed the question of whether technology can be developed to work harmoniously with humans, highlighting the importance of human traits such as empathy in designing solutions that have a meaningful impact.
