My reflection from SMS4Gov 2026 is optimistic: the technology is extraordinary, and the public sector showed itself willing to engage with it seriously and ethically, argues the writer.
Dr Christopher Mahlathi
What happens to the voice of government in the age of AI? That question anchored this year's Social Media Summit for Government (SMS4Gov) in Johannesburg, themed Power Shift+: Reimagining Citizen Engagement through Human Intelligence + Artificial Intelligence. I was honoured to take part in the summit, convened by Decode. under founder and chief executive Lorato Tshenkeng in partnership with the University of Johannesburg Business School (JBS), within dustry and media partners including PRISA, Independent Newspapers, Leadership Magazine and Google Africa.
In his official welcome, Philasande Sokhela of the JBS Centre for African Business set the tone with a principle the summit kept returning to: AI should be applied as a tool, while the power to act, and the accountability for acting, remain with people. Dr Caroline Azionya, president-elect of PRISA, then addressed the ethics of AI in strategic communication, arguing for professionalisation: trained peers should set and enforce standards of professional conduct, and those who apply such advanced tools should at minimum be masters of their own field. The tool does not confer judgement; the profession does.
