Communication and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele says Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring in 136 billion dollars in work benefits for SA and other developing African countries.
He was giving the keynote address at the National AI Summit at the Johannesburg Business School in Auckland Park this morning.
The gathering stems from a report of the presidential commission on the fourth industrial revolution which emphasises the need for a comprehensive approach to the adaptation of AI technology in the country.
Gungubele was sharing the contents of the National AI Plan with key stakeholders and the ICT industry.
He says government should give young people an opportunity to work in the industry at an early age.
Gugubele says, “Why do so many people who are developed in this digital technology leave South Africa, they’ve got no work to do here. How do we produce people whom we don’t know how to use, that’s the huge challenge. As a result, they are taken all over the world by Europe, America and all over the world.”
Emergence of AI
He says the emergence of AI has put South Africa under pressure to utilise its maximum potential.
Gungubele says an approach will be developed to ensure the fast adoption of emerging technologies.
He says, “It is for this reason that this summit has been conveyed for government and the sector to initiate a policy-regulated framework to guide and leverage the advances in AI for human good. Recently we have seen extraordinary advances in the capabilities of AI through chat boards, voice glow and image generators and much more. ”
“The economic benefit of the adoption of AI has been well documented, for example in a study conducted by the access partnership, it is projected that South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya stand to benefit $ 136 billion on the adaptation and use of AI,” he adds.
