Written by Africa University students in the faculty of International Relations and Diplomacy; Gift T Mushohwe and Luxene Ngoie Kakudie
We are all responsible for ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) takes off and transforms Zimbabwe as we know it.
In order to influence AI's destiny, we must be responsible, knowledgeable, and involved.
It must be in line with our beliefs, objectives, and interests. We must make sure it is trustworthy, morally sound, and helpful for everyone.
AI is the ability of a computer system or a robot to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. This can influence various aspects of society in positive and negative ways, depending on how it is developed and used.
Clearly identifiable democratic systems are distinct in that they give every member an impression of control over social projects and inspire many to view one another as accountable participants in all aspects of life.
Rather than being a competitive advantage, this is a key one.
The aim is controversial; Schumpeterian democracy places a strong emphasis on removing authorities in a peaceful manner, whereas more deliberative or participatory approaches capture more complex concepts of empowerment.
Pro-democracy arguments stress the ability to reach one's full potential, the need to protect human rights, and the possibility of emancipation.
The problems that need to be addressed include a focus on process rather than results, the possibility of being duped and falling prey to populists, the tendency for competition to incite polarisation, and short-sightedness in contrast to long-term crises.
Nevertheless, it is easier to focus on democracy's materiality and, consequently, the implications of artificial intelligence when one adopts David Stasavage's social-scientific perspective on democracy. Stasavage distinguishes between modern democracy and autocracy, which he defines as the rule of people who are not directly under the authority of the ruling circles. To survive, autocracies usually build up a big bureaucracy.
The Zimbabwean Coat of Arms, adopted in 1981, symbolises the country's identity, ideals, and history. It features symbols of peace, such as the kudu and AK weapon. The debate revolves around whether advanced artificial intelligence systems should be given legal status similar to people or businesses.
The debate over AI's role in society, autonomy, and legal rights is ongoing. The Zimbabwean Coat of Arms, a symbol of harmony and peace, may be compared to AI's development as it becomes less a weapon of war, it could become a tool of peace and unity, sparking debates on its legal standing and rights in relation to social norms and legal frameworks.
AI can help governments improve public services, enhance transparency, and reduce corruption. It can also support democratic processes, such as voting, deliberation, and civic engagement. However, this can also pose challenges to governance, such as privacy, accountability, and human rights issues.
AI can enable mass surveillance, profiling, and targeting of individuals and groups, by using data analysis, facial recognition, and digital forensics.
This can erode the trust and confidence of citizens and undermine their autonomy and dignity. By employing sophisticated, autonomous algorithms, it might lessen human oversight and control over decision-making processes.
This may make it challenging to assign blame and establish legal liability for the injuries that AI causes to other people bringing to light the issues of accountability.
By developing new tools for manipulation and disinformation like deep fakes, fake news, and bots, artificial intelligence has the potential to erode the respect and preservation of fundamental human rights including freedom of speech, non-discrimination, and participation. This has the potential to skew reality and affect voters' attitudes and actions.
AI can boost economic growth, productivity, and innovation.
It can also create new markets, industries, and jobs.
However, this can also disrupt existing markets, industries, jobs, increase inequality, unemployment, and social unrest.
In a variety of industries, including healthcare, banking, retail, logistics, cybersecurity, transportation, and marketing, this can either supplement or replace human labour.
Along with potential issues for skills, education, and labour market regulation, this may also open up new avenues for innovation and productivity.
AI has the potential to widen the economic, talent, and digital divides, which will exacerbate inequality both inside and across the nation.
This has the potential to worsen social and economic inequality by influencing how money, power, and opportunities are distributed. Since this technology reduces the demand for certain forms of labour, particularly repetitive and low-skilled work, it can lead to underemployment and unemployment.
This may have an impact on workers' livelihoods and general well-being, which may make social protection and welfare programmes more necessary.
This also has the potential to incite social unrest and violence by weakening democracy, cohesion, and trust among the impacted groups and fostering feelings of discontent, anger, and resentment.
Protests, violence, and instability may result from this, casting doubt on the authority and legitimacy of institutions and governments.
Security can enhanced, such as by preventing crime, terrorism, and war. This technology can also improve disaster response, humanitarian aid, and peacekeeping.
However, AI can also threaten security, such as by enabling new forms of crime, terrorism, and war.
It can also increase the risk of accidents, errors, and conflicts.
By employing data analysis, facial recognition, and digital forensics to launch cyber-attacks, pose as high-ranking officials, produce deep fakes, and produce disinformation and propaganda, it has the potential to facilitate new forms of crime, terrorism, and warfare.
This might cause financial losses, upend business structures, erode democracy and confidence, and destabilise the nation.
By decreasing human control and oversight over decision-making processes, developing autonomous and complicated algorithms, and introducing new vulnerabilities and biases, can also significantly raise the likelihood of mishaps, blunders, and disputes.
This may make it harder to assign blame and establish legal liability, jeopardise human rights protection and respect, and have unforeseen repercussions and escalate situations.
It can also challenge the sovereignty of a country as new types of digital sovereignty, defined as a country's capacity to direct its own digital course and which may encompass command over the complete supply chain, from data to hardware and software can be made possible by a digital gap and competition for crucial resources and skills, like artificial intelligence talent, data centres, and computer chips, may result from this.
AI can promote human rights, such as by advancing, health, also empower marginalised groups, such as women, minorities, and refugees.
However, it can also violate human rights, such as by discriminating, exploiting, and harming people.
This can also undermine human dignity, autonomy, and agency.
Discriminating, it might generate unfair and biased results by applying opaque or unaccountable algorithms or by utilising data that reinforces preconceived notions and stereotypes already in place.
People's rights to equality and non-discrimination may be impacted by this, particularly those of vulnerable and marginalised groups.
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By exploiting data that violates people's privacy and consent or by producing deep fakes and digital replicas that trick and mislead people, artificial intelligence might facilitate new kinds of exploitation and abuse.
People's rights to dignity and privacy may be impacted by this, particularly those of women and children.
When this creates autonomous systems that have the potential to inflict violence and injury, or uses data that exposes people to security risks and dangers, it can bring harm to people physically and psychologically.
People's rights to security and life may be impacted by this, particularly those of citizens and human rights advocates.
AI has the potential to undermine people's agency and autonomy by utilising data to shape people's beliefs and actions or by developing systems that limit their participation and control.
People's freedoms of expression, association, and assembly may be impacted by this, particularly those of journalists and activists.
Consequently, rather from being a neutral or deterministic force, artificial intelligence is a complex and dynamic phenomenon that requires careful and responsible administration and supervision.
Zimbabwe and other countries need to embrace a human-centred, moral approach to AI that respects the principles and values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
Governments, the media, academia, civic society, and the private sector are just a few of the many stakeholders that need to collaborate on this.
In addition, among other things, it calls for the development and application of appropriate policies, procedures, oversight committees, and auditing methods.
Education and empowerment are also essential for enabling people' meaningful participation and representation in the AI era, as well as for increasing their knowledge and critical thinking skills.
