By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Ethiopian Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed has called for the development of human-centred and participatory
artificial intelligence, urging African countries to play a more active role in
shaping the next generation of AI as innovators rather than remaining primarily
beneficiaries.
Abiy made the remarks at the
BRICS Leaders’ Summit, where he said artificial intelligence will be essential
to achieving economic and social transformation in developing countries.
The Prime Minister called
for AI systems that can serve a broader share of the global population,
particularly underserved communities, and said Africa must strengthen its
capacity to participate in the development of the technology.
He identified investment in
research, computing capacity, technical skills and strong institutional
leadership as necessary to enable African countries to develop and deploy AI
systems that respond to local priorities.
Abiy also called for AI
technologies to become more inclusive of languages beyond those currently well
represented in existing systems, arguing that future AI should be able to
understand multiple languages and incorporate knowledge from wider populations.
He highlighted Ethiopia’s
efforts to expand its national AI capabilities, including the construction of
an Artificial Intelligence University.
The Prime Minister also
expressed Ethiopia’s interest in deepening cooperation with educational,
technology and research institutions in BRICS member countries to strengthen
the development of AI systems capable of serving African communities.
He said Ethiopia is pursuing
a human-centred approach to AI development and is working towards ethical
artificial intelligence.
Abiy further noted that laws
and regulatory frameworks are most effective when supported by the technical
capabilities needed to implement and enforce them.
