AI & African Enterprises: August 2023 Newsletter
Newsletter Originally Published August 28, 2023
🪞 Through the AI Looking Glass
Depending on who you talk to AI is portal to a dystopian future filled with misinformation and job loss, or on the other side of the magical AI looking glass lies a utopian future of robots, automation and minimal human labour. The reality likely lies somewhere in between, and the future is now.
Concerns around misinformation and the role TikTok's "AI" algorithm played sowing disinformation during Kenya's 2022 general election reached a turning point, recently, when TikTok agreed to work with the Kenyan government to moderate content. While concerns remain around the role tools like ChatGPT can play in generating misinformation, according to Odanga Madung, "[t]he crux of the issue lies not in content made by AI tools such as ChatGPT but in how people receive, process and comprehend information facilitated by the AI systems of tech platforms."
In South Africa, the antitrust watchdog determined Alphabet's search engine "distorts platform competition in favour of large market players", suppressing visibility of smaller South African companies. The agency suggested, amongst other recommendations, Google add a flag to search results to help consumers identify and support South African companies.
Takeaway
Much has been made of deep fakes and ChatGPT, but information dissemination facilitates the distribution of misinformation and is the heart of the social Internet. This should be top of mind for regulators and consumers of internet content.
—Team ajala