By Hussaini Ibrahim Sulaiman
The 5th Kano Social Influencers Summit (KANSIS24), organized by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), held from September 18-19, 2024, in Kano, concluded with key observations and recommendations on the ethical deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in elections and governance.
CITAD 5th KANSIS this year gathered over 1,000 participants, including national and international experts.
In a communique signed by Engr. Yunusa Zakari Ya`u, Convener, KANSIS/Executive Director of CITAD, Chiamaka Okafor, Executive Director at MILID, Prof. Abdulhamid Abdullahi from ABU Zaria and Danlami Nmodu, Publisher of NewsDiary Online, participants identified several challenges and solutions revolving around the use of AI in Nigeria
On the challenges, participants pointed towards Nigeria’s insufficient historical data and public investment in AI infrastructure. They highlighted the risks of AI misuse, such as data bias, deep fakes, and potential violations of privacy, particularly through surveillance and AI-driven profiling.
To address these challenges, the summit recommended that the Federal Government develop national policies and regulations to ensure responsible AI deployment, especially in elections. It also urged governments to invest in ICT infrastructure, close the gender gap, and include marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, in AI-related policies.
The summit pointed up the transformative potential of AI in governance and elections while stressing the need for caution to avoid misuse.
Below is the full text of the communique:
Communique of 5th Kano Social Influencers Summit organized by Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) held on 18th to 19th of September, 2024, at Grand Central Hotel, Kano, Nigeria
1:01: Preamble:
The 5th Kano Social Influencers Summit (KANSIS24) with the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence in Election and Governance: Between the Potentials for Enhancement of Processes and the Perils of Digital Surveillance and Misrepresentation”, organized by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) held between 18th and 19th of September, 2024. Held at Grand Central Hotel, Kano, Nigeria, the event was attended by over 1000 in -persons, and online participants drawn from different parts of the country as well as a team of international participants from Germany, Uganda, Niger Republic and Kenya attended the summit.
His Excellency Engineer Abba Kabiru Yusuf, the Executive Governor of Kano State, represented by Alhaji Usman Bala, Special Adviser to the Governor on State Affairs who was the Guest of Honour at the opening ceremony declared the summit opened. The occasion was also graced by the representative of the Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Umar Namadi.
KANSIS is an inclusive platform that brings governments, private sector, civil society, journalists, academics, students, activists and professionals to show case social deployment of digital technology, and learn from each other’s experiences.
Presenters included the National Commissioner, National Data Protection Commission, , the Africa Director, MacArthur Foundation, Fatima Madaki, Country Director, Search for Common Ground, Abuja, His Highness, Mr Titus Dauda, Agom Kufana, Kufana Chiefdom, Kaduna State, Maryam Gwadabe, SA to the Minister of Communication,Innovation and Digital Economy, Chiamaka Okafor, MILID, Abuja, Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellew, CDD, Abuja, Prof. Abdul Hamidu Abdullahi, Department of Local Government and Development Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Abdullahi Danladi, Resource Forum Islamic Movement, Nigeria, Hashim H. Hashim, SA, ICT Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Yusuf Sharada, SA to Kano State Governor on ICTs, Sumayya Karibullah Kabara, National Commission for Persons with Disability, Dr Binta Bala (KSSSSMB), Reverend Bitrus Dangiwa, among many others.
2:01: Opening Ceremony:
In his welcome address, Engineer Yunusa Zakari Ya`u, executive director of CITAD, welcomed the participants, invited guest speakers, and sponsors to the summit, noting that this year’s edition of the event was put together as avenue to share ideas and experiences, learn from one another, and to showcase innovative technologies, and ICT solutions developed to enhance the lives of Nigerians.
Engineer Ya`u further noted that the theme of summit, deliberately selected to coincide with the ongoing global discussions on the merits, and demerits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of national development, as it relates to Nigeria `s quest to nurture it nascent democracy, particularly as it concerns the strengthening election processes, and aspiration for good governance by Nigerians.
He disclosed that of recent the issue of AI had been in the front burner in the global and national discourse, especially, as it concerns the usefulness or otherwise of the technology as it relates to the common day to day human interactions, and transactions notably in the areas of social, economy, and political.
Engineer Ya`u described AI as a technology that involved heavy uses of data in conveying information which can be misused by those deploying it, adding that bias could be embedded in how AI algorithms are trained. Such bias arising from either selective and or incomplete dataset could also result in misrepresentation of facts, realities, and people.
He noted that while AI had been acknowledged to have tremendous potentials, this year’s summit was deliberately designed to explore the prevailing environment of it deployment in Nigeria, so as tocreate public awareness about it deployment and usage.
The ED concluded that the plenary sessions, and parallel panels were particularly designed to provide exhaustive exploration of the potentials, as well as the notable biases as it regards People with Disabilities in Nigeria, and to conceptualise national policies that will be all inclusive, and adequate to guide the nation`s development quest.
The opening lecture entitled ‘navigating The Challenges of Artificial Intelligence in Data -Paucity Environment’ was presented by Dr. Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner, Nigeria Data protection Commission, Abuja.
3:01: Presentations and Discussions at the summits:
Over 30 highly researched papers were presented in 4 plenary sessions, and 16 parallel panel sessions held during the two -day summit by distinguished resource persons, drawn from the circles of ICT Professionals, Academia, Regulatory Agencies, Traditional and Religious Institutions, and NGO Community within and outside Nigeria. In addition, there was a hackton for youth development at the end of which three teams were adjudged as winners and carted home with various prizes for their apps.
Topics deliberated upon during the plenary session summit were: ‘the Role of religious leaders in Ensuring Ethical Deployment of AI’, ‘AI Initiatives from Homes’, ‘AI and the Challenges of Accountability by Platforms’, ‘State Governments AI Initiatives’, ‘AI, Accountability and Good Governance’, and, ‘Role of Traditional Rulers in Supporting Ethical Deployment of AI’.
During the Parallel Panel Sessions, the following topics were deliberated upon: ‘AI and People with Hearing Impairment’, ‘AI and People with Vision Impairment’, ‘AI and People with Physical Disabilities’, ‘AI and People with Albinism’, ‘AI and Media’, ‘AI, Civic Liberties and Surveillance’, ‘AI and Gender’, as well as, ‘AI, World Works and Labour Rights’.
Others, include: ‘A, Ethics, Trusts and Election’, ‘AI, Privacy and Personal Data Management’, ‘National Agenda Setting for AI Deployment’, ‘AI and the Fight Against Corruption’, ‘AI and Crazy ideas’, ‘AI and Digital Peace Building’, ‘AI in Monitoring harmful Content in Social Media’, and, ‘AI, Aesthetics and the Arts’.
4:01: AI, Democracy, Governance and Elections
Like other facet of digital technology, AI when mainstreamed in governance can improve effectiveness and efficiency. Most observers have noted that AI has the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of elections. AI also provide opportunity to improve on transparency, a key requirement for accountability. That it can improve access to and faster delivery of information, means that citizens would be better informed and thus potential to improve the deliberative side of democracy. Election management bodies have access to better tools for planning, tracking and managing elections while observers can use AI to improve the observance of elections. In governance, it offers means for optimal resources distribution and utilization. But it also presents a number of risks including:
1. Enhanced capacity and ability to generate deep fakes that could further complicates the current state of disinformation, which has negative consequences on democracy and elections
2. The fact that AI systems are trained on the basis of data generated and collected by human users, and since is not universally done, it means that the potential for bias is real. AI could be trained to either reinforce existing asymmetry or even create new ones. In particular, AI algorithms could be designed in such a way to favour particular options in elections
3. The potential for transformative AI to reprogram itself in ways that disassociate with the ethical values of democracy is also a risk
4. Platforms may use highly sensitive or personal user data for advertising that could impact negatively on privacy and data protection rights
5. The recent denotating of pagers by Israel security in which users in far way places were killed indicates a possible area of abuse of AI
4:02: AI, Privacy and Surveillance
Interaction with AI algorithms means that AI systems have the potential to generate a more detailed profiling and tracking of individuals. Already, work place surveillance of workers is a reality. AI can easily invade the privacy of individuals. While AI will improve policing and the making of more effective early-warnings and early-action systems in order to deal with crimes challenges, they carry the risks of undue derogation of the right to privacy of individuals through AI profiling and data extraction. Some of the risks we need to guard against include:
1. The risk by authoritarian leaders and dictators to circumscribe our rights
2. AI will increase cyber warfare with increasing threats to national critical infrastructure
3. Increased propensity to lose control of managing our metadata
4. Being turned into a Guinea pigs for training of AI models through an explained and unconsented used of our data by vendors to train AI models
5. The potential not only to lose control of our data but also to lose the footprint as we do not know who gets to access this data, for what purpose and so, raising concerns about the adequacy of current data protection regulation frameworks
6. AI can be used to disrupt and block access to social media, thereby preventing people from exercising their freedom of expression. Such could also lead to preventing people from receiving and sending vital information they need.
7.
4:03: Observations
After an extensive and intensive deliberations of the main theme, and the sub-themes of the summit, participants noted the following constraints against effective deploy ent and utilization of AI in Nigeria:
1. That Nigeria faces significant challenges in data-driven projects due to a lack of sufficient historical data, caused by several faces which includes in adequate investment in collection and the absence of comprehensive national databank.
2. That insufficient public investment in acquisition of labelled datasets machine learning said to be crucial to effective and efficient AI deployment in Nigeria.
3. That Nigeria remains under-developed in digital infrastructure, compared to other nations, a development that is leading to incidences of data fragmentation and poor data quality.
4. That religious elders have roles to play in advancing moral principles, and technological innovation, particularly, as it concerns AI deployment in the service of humanity, and in meeting particularly, their ethical, spiritual, and social needs of their followers.
5. That AI had significantly improved communication and accessibility for individuals with hearing impairments, enhancing their quality of life, in the areas of speech recognition, sign language translation, and facilitated greater societal participation in election processes, and governance in Nigeria, but, however, observed that despite these advancements, challenges such as translation accuracy and the need for continuous algorithm updates persist.
6. That Nigerians need to scale up their knowledge, and skills in AI technology in order to be able to participate effectively in election processes, governance, as well as in boosting their engagement with government, shaping of public policies, and programmes, in their favour.
7. That an appreciable adoption of technology is taking place within the governments of Kano, and Jigawa states, a development that is at improving public governance, and provision of job opportunities for young people in the two states, in the recent times.
8. That AI was not primarily designed to take jobs away from humans to machines, but a tool for enhancing job efficiency, and delivery, particularly in sectors such as: Media, Aesthetics and Arts, Business, and Governance.
9. That traditional rulers can enhance the administration of their communities, and improve the participation of their subject in peace-building processes, at the grassroot by leveraging on AI technology.
10. That there are wide gaps in terms of understanding the likely impacts of AI efforts at promoting inclusions
5: 01: Recommendations:
The summit recommends the following measures to boost the penetrations and utilization of AI in Nigeria:
1. Called the Federal Government to put in place an adequate national policy, legislative, regulatory, and administrative instruments that would be all inclusive, and capable of guiding the deployment of AI for national development, especially, as it concerns the conduct of elections, and governance.
2. Urged government at all levels to scale up investments in ICT infrastructure so as to enhance, and encourage responsible utilization of AI by the citizens for self -empowerment, and the well -being of the society.
3. Called on governments at all levels to finetune their ICT policies in order to correct the issue of the observed ‘Gender Gap’, as well as take care of the interest of ‘People with Disabilities’, and other class of disadvantaged Nigerians.
4. Urged the Federal Government to place for national debate on the National AI Deployment Framework
