AI is here
Humanity’s attempt to recreate our brains into 0’s and 1’s are almost overtaking the intelligence of all of humanity itself!
Unfortunately, as of the writing of this article, no AI-Giant (OpenAI, Claude, Google, Deepseek) is South African or even African based, and in the midst of the next technological revolution the country with the best AI model is in the first place.
Will South Africa keep up, what does a “3rd world” country look in the new age of AI, and how much information are we freely giving to AI systems in an attempt to “keep up”?
AI vs the Township Economy
“Will AI create more jobs than it eliminates?”
I’ve asked this question numerous times, at various events and discussions that I attend, as well as to my personal network, and the answer is usually something like:
“AI won’t replace your job as long as you keep up with it and learn to use it regularly”.
The truth is, AI will replace a very large percentage of jobs completely, and the obvious starting point is the low skill, entry-level jobs.
In South Africa especially, entry-level jobs such as cashier, drive-thru attendants, petrol attendants, cleaners etc. are essential.
They bridge a gap by allowing citizens with low education or little/no work experience to enter the job market, acquire skills through learnerships and training programs and work their way up.
Someone from a township travels back and forth to internet café’s and print shops just to get their CV created and printed. The fancier their phone the higher the risk of them getting robbed on the way home, integrating AI is not only implausible but somewhat risky.
How do we inform and give access to AI to allow these businesses to compete (and scale!), while simultaneously managing risk?
The Productivity Bubble
For those who are employed in office work, where the “AI won’t replace your job as long as you keep up with it and learn to use it regularly” theory may apply, the next concern is this:
Let’s say you are an office worker and are able to complete 10 major tasks a day, the company then incorporates an AI system that makes each task 10 times faster. What’s more likely to happen?:
- A. The company allows you to work 10x less hours for the same pay, or
- B. The company now expects you to do 100 tasks a day.
I call this the productivity bubble, driven by competition: Companies know that if they go with option A they’ll quickly get overtaken by the companies that went with option B.
Therefore, they all force each other into hyper productivity. The seemingly inevitable end result, in my opinion, will be a very burnt-out society (already happening) and eventually a complete replacement of entire workforces.
Once workforces are replaced completely, a world economic restructure would have to take place, similar to what is described by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in his Article “Moore’s Law for Everything” d where, in summary, he proposed a basic income given to all citizens in the form of “shares and dividends” of the AI companies who replaced their jobs. I’m not an economist and have no idea how the ideal scenario would look or work in practice, but a worthwhile read!
The Generation of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
Another major risk is the hype-driven tendency for the general public to jump into anything new, and the increasing speed at which we do so (Instagram reached one million users in 2.5 months, Threads reached two million users in two hours).
Consider the above combined with the fact that as of 2024e there are:
- There are currently approximately 70,000 AI companies worldwide
- There are over 115 million companies currently using AI
The result here is a scattering of sensitive information across various AI systems, with South African business owners desperately trying to keep up with the latest AI tools and software, I do not notice an equal amount of concern or steps taken for data security.
Are businesses & individuals researching the AI tool they use before they use it? When they stop using it are they fully disconnecting all data and permissions given to these tools?
Do they know what data is being kept and where their data is being stored?
What if one of the AI-Giant companies closed down? How much certainty do we have that our data would be safely transferred/deleted?
What is the Solution?
2 major categories come to mind:
1. Set policies and procedures
In businesses and in government, set:
- General do’s and don’ts,
- A scale for measuring the accuracy and validity of AI models,
- Accountability agreements between the large AI companies and end users/governments holding the AI companies responsible if any misinformation or misguidance is caused by their AI models.
Such as the National AI Policy Framework
How I do my part:
I consult with businesses and help them integrate AI and Automation systems through my company (Repautomate.co.za).
Putting a big focus on establishing procedures and policies for the businesses I work with, as well as educating the employers and employees about how to use AI responsibly, how it “thinks” and when not to use it at all, so that they can then further spread the word.
2. Spread awareness and education
Educate, not only business owners, but teachers, students, children, families and communities about what AI is, how and when to use it and it’s risks.
How I do my part:
- Podcast:
I plan to host a technology-focused podcast and AI safety is one of the main topics, as well as strategic and responsible technology use in the South African Context.
All the ideas in this article are a result of discussions and back and forth debates and thought exercises, highlighting the true value of ongoing discussion and the dissection of modern challenges from multiple angles.
- Resource Directory:
I’ve put together a publicly available resource directory containing links to free courses, articles, videos and other resources covering AI, Automation, General PC skills and Data analytics to help anyone who would like to stay informed and grow their skills. (https://staging.repautomate.co.za/resourcehub)
- Education:
When implementing systems I also teach courses around AI integration, prompting and responsible use, as well as courses on general PC skills and Automation.
Thoughts to remember
- Hesitate before using AI: What information am I sharing with it and would I share this with a stranger. If the answer is “No” then either don’t use AI or ensure you’re using it securely by self-hosting or creating a private environment.
- AI is a tool, and like any tool how it’s used depends on who’s using it. AI is not the enemy, the enemy is any agenda, person or organization that isn’t aligned with a better quality of life for all of humanity.
- There is no defined method to measure the thought process of AI (to see “how it thought” to get to the answer it provided), this is important particularly when discussing using AI to assist government and make future decisions. We have no way of knowing whether the advice the AI is giving is truly the best-case scenario (or where on the scale of worst to best case scenarios its recommendation sits)
The Vision
Large corporations in South Africa are increasingly integrating AI to increase efficiency and reduce errors. Companies like Capitec (AI Powered Customer Support), Takealot (AI for E-Commerce Logistics) and even Spar(AI automates repetitive tasks)f
My hope is that we as South Africans can use AI to bridge the gap between us and other countries. I’ve attended countless local business events and one thing I can say for sure is South Africa has innovation, drive, spirit and hope, and we aren’t as behind as we think we are. But like any true South African knows, we need to work even harder to get what we want, but that’s never stopped us before.
“South Africa is a 3rd world country with 1st world people” – Unknown
Sources
- a: https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02114thQuarter2020.pdf
- b: https://www.investec.com/en_za/focus/economy/thriving-township-economy-vital-to-sas-economic-revival.html
- c: https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/132269/these-are-the-biggest-townships-in-south-africa/
- d: https://moores.samaltman.com/
- e: https://explodingtopics.com/blog/number-ai-companies
- f: https://www.specno.com/blog/ai-south-africa