transformative power of AI closer to the hearts and minds of Kenyans .
Initiatives such as GenAI projects targeting non-communicable disease risk factors and AI-powered healthcare communications exemplify the country ’ s commitment to leveraging technology for societal benefit .
However , as UNESCO warns , these developments are taking place in a context marked by the absence of a dedicated governance framework to effectively enhance the country ’ s ambition to becoming the “ Silicon Savannah ” of Africa .
UNESCO recently facilitated the 3rd Stakeholder ’ s Consultation Workshop that was held from 15-17 May 2024 in Naivasha , following two earlier consultations that were held in Nairobi , on 8 and 26 April 2024 .
In a bid to secure its position as a significant player in the global AI landscape , Kenya has embarked on a strategic journey towards embracing technological innovations .
Kenya has existing strategic frameworks on AI such as the National Digital Masterplan 2022-2032 , the Digital Economy Blueprint , Code of Practice and Standards on AI from the Kenya Bureau of Standards , as well as the Data Protection Act 2019 , among others .
Kenya is one of the 193 Member States that adopted the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence , the first global standard in November 2021 .
The recommendations were developed by the Global AI Ethics and Governance Observatory , to provide a global resource for policymakers , regulators , academics , the private sector and civil society to find solutions to the most pressing challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence .
The Observatory showcases information about the readiness of countries to adopt AI ethically and responsibly . It also hosts the AI Ethics and Governance Lab , which gathers contributions , impactful research , toolkits , and good practices across a range of issues related to AI ethics , governance , responsible innovation , standards , institutional capacities , generative AI , and neurotechnologies .
At the UNESCO workshop , the absence of a dedicated framework specific to AI governance , was highlighted .
The Government is currently conducting a consultative process for the drafting of a national emerging technologies and AI strategy . This underscores its commitment to provide strategic guidance for the development , adoption , deployment , and responsible and ethical use of AI in Kenya .
This initiative , titled “ FAIR Forward - Artificial Intelligence for All ,” is backed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union .
The project acknowledges the potential of AI to drive Kenya ’ s digital transformation and support progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals .
There is also a proposal by the Kenya Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Society , advocating for regulations around AI and robotics . The group has recommended a bill to include licensing requirements and the establishment of a dedicated society to oversee ethical development , stakeholder collaboration , and compliance .
According to the Government AI Readiness Index developed by Oxford Insights , mentioned earlier , the top three best performing countries in the world are the United States of America , Singapore , and the United Kingdom with overall scores of 88.16 , 82.46 , and 81.26 respectively .
On the African continent , the leading countries are Egypt , South Africa , and Tunisia with scores of 49.75 , 48.24 , and 45.71 respectively . Notably , of the East African member states , only Kenya features at number 4 within the top-10 African countries ranked on the index .
The Institute of Economic Affairs ( IEA ) has in the past advocated for enhanced efforts to be placed on ensuring improvement on the two pillars on which Kenya falls short of the global average : Technology Sector and Data & Infrastructure . In so doing , the institute believes there is need to continue to embrace Science , Technology , Engineering and Maths ( STEM ) courses , increase public investment on technological tools for service delivery , inculcate ICT at all levels of education , embrace and enhance digital skills for the youth .
As noted from the onset , the Government and businesses must evaluate benefits and risks for various AI technologies to gain competitive advantages and deliver value for their populations .
AI presents an opportunity to improve the speed , and potentially , the success rate of new innovations , and how we go about doing this will determine whether we succeed . In both applications , the data used to train AI is critical .
New product ideas are more likely to succeed if the process of developing and training AI are grounded in data reflecting consumers ’ intrinsically human needs and desires . This data needs to be timeless , or at minimum , up to date .
At Ipsos , we champion the unique blend of Human Intelligence ( HI ) and AI to propel innovation and deliver impactful , human-centric insights for our clients .
Our HI stems from our expertise in prompt engineering , data science , and our unique , high quality data sets - which embeds creativity , curiosity , ethics , and rigor into our AI solutions , powered by our Ipsos Facto GenAI platform .
The assumption is that we are all uniquely human . Consumer decisions are complex , emotional , contextual , and often irrational . Although AI makes new product development faster and easier than ever before , off-the-shelf generic models can distort or misrepresent consumers ’ realities .
While we are all fascinated with AI , it is relevant , representative , and timely data that will determine innovation success . These three criteria apply whether you build your own AI or use a pre-trained model from another company . Without this information , you cannot assess whether an AI model is suited for your specific business application .
The most valuable data of all is real human data , which tells us about who we are , how we live our lives , and what we need to make us safe , comfortable , healthy , and happy . We buy because we are humans . We have needs , insecurities , and care what others think of us .
We make choices driven by emotions and are not always rational . AI applications in market research that fail to capture the true essence of being human will not perform well .
Nicholas Parsamakis is the CEO ISS & Operations at Ipsos SSA . You can commune with him via mail at : Nicholas . Parsamakis @ ipsos . com