African world of AI: a people-centered approach to responsible AI
Abstract: Globally, AI stakeholders have continued to engage with contemporary discussions on values such as ethics, transparency, explainability, data integrity, fairness, and governance, which are germane to responsible AI discourse. Many guidelines and policy frameworks have been recommended and are being adopted in this direction. In Africa however, awareness of these policies is at their early stages despite increasing activities in AI R&D on the continent. Conflicts in cultural values, digital divide, and age-long inequalities perpetuated through non-involvement of local AI stakeholders in developing these frameworks have impacted its acceptance on the continent (Gwagwa et al., 2021). But one-size-does-not-fitall. The wholesale adoption of AI solutions developed without the consideration of afrocentric perspectives could aggravate its potential negative impacts on users, communities, and environment. Ethical and responsible products need to be seen as inherently related to the local context. There is a need for a new approach that allows local designers to develop sociallyresponsible frameworks instead of depending on existing models that don’t align with communities’ values. This approach will promote responsible AI by allowing startups to collect sentiments of their technology ideas from peoples’ perspectives– how it might affect users in the communities. Through public engagement starting with startups in Africa and Namibia’s AI ecosystem, we attempt to uncover how startups and designers interpret users’ opinions, map them to relevant principles and guidelines for responsible AI, and how they tailor them in practice. The results will support AI-startups to harness local and situated design ideas. The results will further translate and integrate them into existing AI frameworks. It will be invaluable in building AI capacity that addresses contextual issues of ethics, equity, and inclusion especially as it affects the cherished values of marginalized communities. It is expected to contribute to creating AI-solutions that are unique and appropriate for the African market.
Author bio: Dr. Makuochi Samuel Nkwo is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, in the Research Innovation and Development Unit, University of Namibia, Windhoek. He has done high-quality and impactful single and collaborative research works in health & wellness, teaching & learning, eCommerce & workplaces, as well as in sustainable environments. Also, he has authored and co-authored, published, and presented over 26 peer-reviewed papers in reputable journals and conferences around the world. He is currently leading the Responsible Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Design in Africa project, hosted at the University of Namibia, Windhoek.
Annastasia Shipepe is a Lecturer at the Department of Computing, Mathematical & Statistical Sciences at University of Namibia.
Prof Anicia Peters is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development at University of Namibia, also the Chairperson of the Namibia Presidential Task Force on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She serves as ACM CHI 2023 Technical Program Co-chair (Hamburg, April 2023).
Dr Shaima Lazem is an Associate Research professor at City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications SRTA-City, Egypt, and Co-founder of ArabHCI. She demonstrated leadership skills in 2017 UK-Egypt Newton-Mosharafa funded project “The Hilali Network: Exploring Lived Cultural Heritage Through Design in Higher Education” in partnership with Kingston University, UK. She was awarded the Leaders in Innovation Fellowship with the Royal Academy of Engineering in London in 2018 and prestigious Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing scholarship in 2011&2016.
Recorded Presentation | 26 April 2023
#RelationalApproaches #Citizens
