The doctoral student in Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow in the UK charged presenters to suggest ways that AI can drive development and sustainability “given the effects of colonialism and brain drain across the continent.”

Africa is also experiencing “the tyranny of neo-colonialism”, the Nigerian Catholic Priest said, adding that the situation creates a leeway for brain drain that makes it an uphill task for Africa to level up with the West in AI technologies.

“It is sad that the world does not take Africa seriously in terms of development and sustainability although the continent takes the lion’s share of donations from the United Nations and its ancillary agencies,” he said.

Citing figures from the African Development Bank (AfDB), which indicate that 600 million Africans live without access to electricity, he lamented that “Africa is bedevilled by underdevelopment often associated with authoritarian regimes, electoral malpractices, bad governance and external influences.”

The Nigerian scholar said that underdevelopment makes embracing AI a huge challenge for African countries.  

Speakers at the conference explored ways in which AI can contribute to sustainable development across the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent. 

Fr. Dyikuk described the theme of the conference as “thought-provoking and timely”, and termed AI “the ability of a computer or robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligible beings.”

AI, he explained, “takes advantage of algorithms, mathematical or arithmetical figures/elements to improve or predict human actions.”

“At its core, AI deals with astonishing innovations, exciting discoveries, and upsetting or disorienting equations in sound/music, speech, video and pictorial materials as well as computer operations,” he said.

The member of the Clergy of Nigeria’s Bauchi Catholic Diocese categorized AI into three variants: Weak AI, which is used in common day life focuses on one task at a time and has limits; Strong AI deployed by academics which understands, learns and fulfills any intellectual endeavour; and Super AI which he said is still at a conceptual level, and “supersedes human intelligence as it is envisaged to perform any task better than human beings.”