TechPression

Tag: WEF

  • Rwanda to hosts Africa’s largest ArtificiaI Intelligence (AI) summit

    Rwanda to hosts Africa’s largest ArtificiaI Intelligence (AI) summit

    Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, has declared Africa’s first high-level summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This historic occasion will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 8 to October 9, 2024, and hosted by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda (C4IR Rwanda) in association with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

    Prominent industry and government representatives, as well as specialists from academia and civil society, will attend the summit to discuss how artificial intelligence will impact Africa’s future.

    Read also: IYD 2024: SMILE’s youth leadership summit sparks new mindset for African innovation

    Aims of the AI summit 

    With Africa’s fastest-growing workforce in the world, the summit’s subject, “AI and Africa’s Demographic Dividend: Reimagining Economic Opportunities for Africa’s Workforce,” emphasises the importance of taking advantage of both the demographic dividend and the economic potential of AI.

    To create an Africa AI strategy that would accelerate economic prospects and empower the continent’s workforce, the summit will tackle critical issues like inclusion and access while identifying shared risks, opportunities, and obstacles.

    The summit was announced during the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos. It is the result of the continued efforts of the AI Governance Alliance (AIGA), an initiative that WEF started last year.

    To influence ethical AI development, application, and governance, AIGA brings together influential stakeholders from around the globe. The Africa summit aims to address one of AIGA’s top priorities: guarantee fair distribution and improved access to AI. To this end, thought leaders from economically and geographically under-represented areas will be gathered, as noted in the AIGA briefing papers introduced at the Annual Meeting.

    Read also: Mastercard Foundation EdTech Conference emphasises ICT integration in African learning

    About C4IR Rwanda

    C4IR Rwanda, a 2020-founded centre focused on artificial intelligence and data governance, is one of the 19 centres globally that make up the WEF Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network.

    Building on the Center’s continuing work in AI policy and ethical principles, the Africa Summit is helping Rwanda establish its National AI Policy, which was released last year and is a significant step towards creating a reliable and innovation-friendly AI environment.

    C4IR Rwanda, the sole centre in Africa at the moment, also acts as a convener for AI activities in the region. Regarding access and inclusion, it hopes to use the next summit to further knowledge of how AI might meet the particular opportunities and problems faced by African countries.

    With the launch of Norrsken Kigali House, Africa’s largest entrepreneurship hub, the hosting of ICLR, the world’s premier conference on deep learning, the establishment of the first BioNTainer as a high-tech manufacturing solution for mRNA medicines, and other notable initiatives, Rwanda is positioned as a leading AI innovation hub for Africa.

  • WEF lists AI misinformation, cyberattacks as top concerns

    WEF lists AI misinformation, cyberattacks as top concerns

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) has listed  AI-generated misinformation/disinformation and cyberattacks as top concerns for countries this year. 

    The Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 made this clear. According to WEF, “global risk” is the likelihood of an incident or circumstance that would significantly damage global GDP, population, or natural resources.

    AI technology makes misinformation easy to manufacture and propagate, according to the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) research.

    After extreme weather, 53% of respondents ranked AI misinformation as the most prominent global risk in 2024, ranking second out of 10. 

    Cyberattacks ranked 5th on the 2024 global risk list, with 39% thinking they were significant. WEF noted that cyberattacks remain a top-three issue for government and private-sector respondents.

    Read also: Lazarus Group causes $340 million damage in cyberattacks

    Threat of AI models

    The WEF pointed out that because AI models have made it more accessible, spreading false information and misinformation no longer requires talent or experience. 

    “No longer requiring a niche set of skills, easy-to-use interfaces to large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models have already led to a huge rise in fake news and so-called “synthetic” content, such as voice cloning and fake websites,” the report said. 

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) said governments are implementing new and changing rules to go after hosts and creators of illegal and misleading material online.

    The emergence of generative AI regulation may support these efforts. China’s AI-generated content watermarking rules may assist in uncovering accidental disinformation from AI-hallucinated content. 

    It said, “Generally, the speed and effectiveness of regulation is unlikely to match the pace of development.” 

    Digital gap 

    WEF also notes that technological improvements and geopolitical factors will likely create new winners and losers in advanced and developing countries if economic incentives and geopolitical imperatives drive AI and other frontier technology development rather than a public interest.

    The digital gap between high- and low-income countries will significantly divide benefits and hazards. 

    WEF warned that vulnerable nations would be digitally separated from supercharged AI advancements that affect economic productivity, finance, climate, education, healthcare, and job creation.