Abstract
A group of eminent scientists, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, notoriously claimed, Success in creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last. Remarks like these often conjure up dystopian visions of killer robots enslaving humanity or, less fancifully, the redundancy of flesh-and-bone beings in a digitally sentient world. Either way, such notions distort AI’s contemporary and subtle threats. Artificial intelligence may pose substantial long-term risks, but an existential threat is preceded by an ethical one – risk resides not only in the future but also in the present. Like their global peers, African policymakers need to consider the ethical challenges of AI. Failing which, the continent is more likely to be a victim than a victor of the technologies underlying the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This article proceeds as follows: it provides an introduction to AI and its impact, briefly explores AI’s major ethical themes along with a more detailed discussion of machine bias. The paper then outlines some measures that governments and other stakeholders are taking toward AI-ethics. The article concludes with suggestions for African stakeholders to strengthen AI's ethical governance.
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