This is one question that has refused to take leave of me at the moment, and the answers don’t look as simple as the question. The reason is that technology grows so fast, sometimes more than the speed of light, hyperbolically, that we are either left behind or simply fail to notice the failings in a system that render reasonable effort superfluous. The excitement generated by the introduction of 5G to the nation’s telecommunications ecosystem has been buried by the euphoria generated by the coming of artificial intelligence (AI), which, like other technologies before it, is credited with the near possibility of recreating the world in its own image and assigning responsibilities to man in all places except for things that happen in the inner room between couples.
The world is hooked on AI, and global bodies and big nations are only issuing cautions concerning safety, which is understandable, because one little malfunction could wreak a lot of havoc. This is not to increase anybody’s blood pressure but just a little bit more realistic, even as AI companies and investors are already smiling to the bank. It is the thing with new technologies until humanity has invented a more superior one. But nobody knows yet if all that invention and breakthrough will be ceded to AI! Nigeria is a serious member of the global AI community, and the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has never hidden his aspirations about the role he wants the country to play. Under his ministry, there is Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS), which is domiciled at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
