AI & African Enterprises: July 2023 Newsletter
Newsletter Originally Published July 31, 2023
🔍 Looking Outwards to Look Inwards
Africa may be perceived as lagging in AI development but the position provides the advantage of observing and learning from the wins and losses of countries further along the AI industrialisation journey. In this issue, we consider challenges posed by AI that should be top of mind in Africa.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft were among 7 tech firms that signed an agreement committing to transparency and security: to put new AI systems through internal and external testing before release; and seek third-party guidance to manage deployment risk.
In addition to mitigating risks posed by AI services, risks further up what we call the AI value chain, are especially relevant to Africa.
Water scarcity presents vast geopolitical consequences across the continent. Data centres typically use large amounts of water for cooling, placing pressure on local water resources. Countries including Chile, Uruguay, the USA and the UK are challenging data centre operators to account for their water consumption. As data centres are opened across the continent, strategies for mitigating the risk to water resources should be top of mind for policy makers.
Takeaway: African businesses and policy makers focused on AI should observe global developments to tailor strategic solutions that account for existing contextual factors, to ensure Africa is well positioned for the AI "industrial revolution".
—Team ajala