ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND BLOCKCHAIN STARTUP NARRATES THE DIGITAL WORLD
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND BLOCKCHAIN STARTUP NARRATES THE DIGITAL WORLD
1. The decision to live your life in a digital world versus the real world is a very big, serious decision. It’s certainly not for everybody. I learn a lot about Artificial intelligence from start-up cofounder Kagiso Earl Mpa of @seritiinsights .
2. We often think of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as a gateway to a future written in chrome, operating on a virtual cloud. This techno-optimism underpinned Mr Earl’s 2022 views, where AI is described as a sunrise technology that would assist sustainable development at scale and modernise the country that is Botswana in sectors such as banking and insurance.
3. The “race” for dominance in AI is far from fair especially the Southern Africa region: South Africa has stepped ahead of everyone. Not only do a few left behind economies like Botswana possess certain material advantages right from the start, they could also set the rules. They have an advantage in research and development, and possess a skilled workforce as well as wealth to invest in AI. Globally we can give everyone a picture on how North America and East Asia alone account for three-fourths of global private investment in AI, patents and publications. This is absolutely a no brainer that Botswana ecosystem itself could tap into AI and we could leverage it for new industries emerging.
4. We can also look at the state of inequity in AI in terms of governance in Africa. Smart Africa in Rwanda has stepped up to create a blueprint and it addresses pertinent questions. How “tech fluent” are policymakers in developing and underdeveloped countries? What barriers do they face in crafting regulations and industrial policy in reflection of AI? Are African ecosystems sufficiently represented and empowered at the international bodies that set rules and standards on AI? At the same time, there is an emerging challenge at the nexus of AI and new startups that could deepen this inequity.
5. Some people would think you need a Ph.D. in AI to be able to comprehend and participate in these discussions, and I learn from Earl that this isn’t true. The internet has changed the rules. The range of topics the AI subject covers is broadly organized under the areas of analysis of the AI ecosystem, privacy, bias, social media and problematic information, AI design and governance, laws and regulations, trends, outside the boxes, and one would say what we’re thinking of AI is not the scary things we assume.
6. However, Mr Earls own hands-on applied experience with building machine learning systems does come in handy and he talks comfortably about solutions he has developed during covid pandemic and some for the biggest insurance company in Botswana . Many of the issues and solutions that Mr Earl talks about are quite concrete to him. This helps go beyond thinking about these startups ideas in the abstract, to thinking about how to put these principles into practice. I believe AI will influence all our lives. We need to pay attention to what this innovator and his team are building locally for the world.
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Keep building!
