There is no truer essence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) if it is defined as an attempt to replicate or simulate human intelligence. There is no doubt that AI has become a catchall term for applications that perform complex tasks that once required human input. The term is often used interchangeably with its sub-fields, which include machine learning. AI is computer-based, it enables computers to see inconspicuous patterns in a data set to improve performance progressively without being explicitly programmed. Its success in various deployment depends on the availability of data, which is required to train the algorithms.[1] All over the world, scientists, engineers, programmers, venture capitalists and governments are in a frantic race to augment natural intelligence with AI; the creation of intelligence that will match that of the natural. With this excitement comes the worry and apprehension of those who regulate the world; it cannot be over emphasised that we are getting to unchartered territory. With the manifestation of AI, how will the world fight wars, define sovereignty and national security.[2] What does Africa stand to benefit from the slow embracement of AI?

Studies have argued that AI and robots will take over 50% of human jobs in the next 30 years. This is due to the exponential increase in robotics, quantum computing and AI. It is even foreseeable that intelligent machines will take over jobs across various fields and humans in different professions, it is equally noted that this will immensely affect the landscape of human productivity. Within the last 50 years, Nigeria has not exactly benefited from the affluence created by technology.

With the high rate of unemployment in Africa, despite the fact that AI is the future, there are fears that the deployment of AI in the territory, will increase the rate of unemployment. There are also counter arguments that AI will not create unemployment but would rather create a symbiotic form of relationship and thus becomes imperative that people choose careers that are ICT-compliant although AI will not take over jobs, humans will need to adjust so they can align with the jobs that AI creates. This only presupposes that AI has come dictate the future of jobs.

Also, with the mass integration of AI, the entire financial services sector will also be disrupted by the emergence of AI solutions and applications. Through AI banks, insurance companies, asset/wealth management firms would have a plethora of cutting edge tools that would streamline and bring unimaginable simplicity and ease to core financial processes and customer service offerings. It is great to know that a number of financial institutions are awake to the reality, head-hunting and mopping up fintech talents, in a sort of arms race to ensure they are not left behind in the sweeping wave of fintech-mediated changes that is afoot in the sector[3]– thus creating the buzzword #FINTECH.

 

Adedoyin Fadare is the author of this article, he is a legal practitioner who specialises in Technology Law in Nigeria

 

[1] https://allafrica.com/stories/201805140746.html accessed January 1, 2020

[2] https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/artificial-intelligence-nigeria-is-missing-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution-b59a7ba037ca accessed January 1, 2020

[3] https://Punchng.com/six-ways-artificial-intelligence-will-influence-the-world/amp/?espv=1 accessed on January 1, 2019