The Paris Peace Forum’s sixth edition, addressing global challenges like climate change and migration, also emphasized the pivotal role of artificial intelligence (AI) in development.
Despite challenges like high connectivity costs and low internet penetration in Africa, advocates argue for immediate AI integration.
Sally Bilaly SOW from Guinea Check stresses the need to raise awareness of AI’s positive aspects even before achieving 100% internet penetration.
While AI offers transformative potential in connected regions, concerns arise for remote villages lacking networks and electricity.
Vilas Dhar of the Patrick J McGovern Foundation lauds AI initiatives in Morocco, South Africa, and Senegal, acknowledging AI’s capacity for social and economic progress.
The Paris Peace Forum underscores the crucial interplay of AI and development, emphasizing the necessity for global collaboration to balance technological innovation and responsibility.
A Practical Challenge
Initiatives for AI development in Africa face practical challenges, notably the continent’s high connectivity costs and low internet penetration.
While proponents advocate immediate integration, the reality in many African villages involves a lack of networks and electricity, hindering the potential impact of AI.
Additionally, there’s a growing sentiment among Africans seeking to distance themselves from France due to perceptions that historical relationships have often prioritized France’s interests over Africa’s.
This sentiment is driven by a desire for more equitable partnerships and increased autonomy in decisions affecting the continent’s development.
The practical feasibility of Paris’s AI efforts in Africa is thus questioned against the backdrop of complex historical dynamics and the need for mutually beneficial collaborations.