1.0 Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been described as a general-purpose technology with potentially far-reaching societal impacts (Rogerson et al. 2022)(Eke 2023). It is a rapidly growing sector within the African innovation ecosystem and many African countries are pinning hopes on AI to help accelerate growth, productivity, and competitiveness, leading to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (s) (Sampene et al.2022; Sedola, Pescino, and Greene 2021)(ITU and UNDP 2023). As AI continues to advance at a rapid pace globally (Law 2023), it becomes imperative to ensure that its development and deployment adhere to robust ethical policies that set standards to safeguard the rights and dignity of individuals and communities (UNESCO 2022; Jaldi 2023; Brief 2023). By definition, AI ethical policies and regulations serve as essential guardrails in guiding the responsible development and use of AI innovations and solutions. These policies encompass principles such as transparency, fairness, accountability, privacy protection, and mitigation of bias (UNESCO 2022; Gwagwa, Kachidza, et al. 2021). In the African context, where diverse cultural, social, and economic factors shape technological adoption and impact, the formulation and implementation of effective ethical policies and regulations are paramount.
It has been noted that AI technologies pose ethical quandaries like privacy violations, algorithmic bias, and safety concerns (Okolo, Aruleba, and Obaido 2023). Hence, in recent years, the concept of AI ethical policy has gained significant traction worldwide, as the ethical implications of AI technologies have become increasingly apparent (Jaldi 2023). As a result, governments, organizations, and institutions are drafting or adopting AI ethical policies to guarantee responsible development and application of AI technologies African nations such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Nigeria have made the initial moves to establish governance and policies frameworks to direct the development and application of AI while other nations are still lagging (Chatbri, Jemmali, and Hannachi 2019; Demaidi 2023).The main objective of this project is to map and identify AI ethical policies being developed and applied across Africa by governments, examining the sentiments among practitioners, the beneficial and detrimental implications that these policies may have on innovators and entrepreneurs, and provide actionable recommendations to promote, comply with and leverage these policies . The report consists of five sections : introduction, literature review, methodology, results and discussion, and lastly, recommendations and conclusion.
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Ethical Horizons - Mapping AI Policy in Africa May, 2024
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