Vice President of IMANI-Ghana, Selorm Branttie, has urged the government to undertake a comprehensive redesign of its systems and structures to optimize the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Drawing attention to an IMF index report assessing countries’ preparedness for AI, Mr Branttie highlighted Ghana’s placement in the lower third quadrant.
This positioning indicates a significant lack of readiness for the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
He criticized the government’s persistent inclusion of human elements in automated processes, attributing it to prioritizing procurement benefits over efficiency.
Speaking on the Joy Super Morning Show, Mr Branttie pointed out that in certain service industries, unnecessary emphasis on human involvement has been maintained, contributing to inefficiencies for the benefit of specific parties.
He emphasized the importance of aligning these decisions with efficiency goals rather than procurement advantages.
“For example, in the service industry in areas where you’ll just need to run simple services we have overemphasised the human elements just because we like those inefficiencies to exist in order that we gain or some certain parties gain, and if these things are not done in the name of efficiency rather than in the name of procurement benefits,” he said.
“Now when it comes to AI we are at a point where there’s a turning point, we’re at a very critical tipping point where if we decide to really begin to use some of those systems and have a deliberate approach to it, it could dramatically change our environment.
Mr Branttie stressed the pivotal role of the government in leading the charge towards the integration of AI into existing structures to drive enhanced efficiency.
He highlighted a critical turning point, emphasizing that a deliberate approach to the adoption of AI systems could dramatically transform the national environment.
“The IMF report that Winston and you guys talked about earlier this morning actually shows of [inaudible] Ghana in the lower income category where our preparedness for Ai is much on the lower side. In an index of 125 countries, we are in the lower quadrant or the lower third or so, so we’re not at the point where our systems are being designed to maximize the use of Ai as it should,” he said.
“The issues here, or the issues for us in Ghana and Africa is that one, we’re not building enough data sets to feed into AI models to generate the things that are relevant to our environment.
Referring to the IMF report discussed earlier, Branttie highlighted Ghana’s placement in the lower income category in terms of preparedness for AI. Among 125 countries assessed, Ghana falls into the lower third quadrant, indicating a significant gap in incorporating AI as a strategic asset.
“So even now if you look at a lot of these AI systems, they’re more attuned to what will be culturally or informationally represent the West’s outlook on things or an American or European outlook on things.
“And you’d find very little nuance on African views or how we think or how we process our thoughts, our language, our culture, etc. and beyond that we have to look at it in many ways,” he said.
One of the challenges identified by Branttie is the lack of locally developed data sets to feed into AI models. Currently, most AI technology is designed for a Western audience, resulting in a limited representation of African perspectives, cultures, and languages.
To address this gap, he emphasized the urgent need for Ghana and Africa to build robust local data sets, ensuring that AI models reflect and understand the nuanced views and thought processes unique to the continent.