Towards Tech Self-Determination: The case for an African AI Safety Institute - Scott Timcke

As AI foundation models become ubiquitous, the African continent faces a reckoning.  Almost all of the digital technology Africa uses is imported. The anchoring effects of technical codes, standards and specifications act as a kind of shadow regulation that limits how much direct control Africans can have on these systems. Africa cannot afford to be a passive recipient of technologies developed elsewhere, with little consideration for disruptions to local contexts. Instead, a proactive, comprehensive approach to AI safety must emerge, one that is holistic in nature.

  

A Strategic Imperative for Preserving Self-Determination

The traditional approach to tech governance - characterized by reactive regulation (or the lack thereof) - is inadequate. By contrast, an African AI Safety Institute could rise above the narrow confines of technical assessment. Its mandate could extend far beyond simple compliance or risk mitigation to better understanding the ways in which algorithmic systems reshape power dynamics, social interactions, and economic opportunities. This requires a multidimensional approach that integrates technological expertise with deep contextual understanding of African political economies. In this spirit, An African AI Safety Institute represents more than a mere regulatory mechanism; it is a strategic imperative for preserving self-determination. 

Transparency should be a fundamental principle in this endeavor. However, transparency in the African context demands more than merely revealing source code or training data. It requires a comprehensive examination of how AI systems are constructed, deployed, and their potential consequences. This includes technological transparency, objective transparency regarding core programmatic goals, and decision-level transparency that provides comprehensive justifications for algorithmic choices.

The geopolitical implications of AI development can also not be understated. Africa risks becoming a potential site of technological experimentation, vulnerable to what scholars have characterized as digital colonialism. An AI Safety Institute could serve as a bulwark against such exploitation, scrutinizing supply chains, monitoring potential misuses in military and propaganda contexts, and ensuring that technological developments genuinely serve African interests.

Critical to the Institute’s mission could be addressing the profound knowledge asymmetries that currently characterize global AI development. Large technology firms and data brokers accumulate unprecedented amounts of behavioral and meta data, creating intricate dossiers that extend into the realm of personal intimacy.

 

Suggesting a Just Future

An African AI Safety Institute could directly challenge these power structures, creating mechanisms for accountability and understanding. 

The Institute's focus would necessarily be multifaceted. It could develop technical foundations for understanding AI models, identify beneficial applications that directly address African challenges, conduct rigorous social impact assessments, and work towards harmonizing AI policies across the continent. This holistic approach recognizes that AI safety is not merely a technical challenge but a complex socio-political negotiation.

Resource constraints present a significant challenge. Unlike their European counterparts, African institutions struggle to conduct comprehensive investigations of frontier models prior to deployment. This limitation, however, should not be viewed as a weakness but as an opportunity for innovative approaches to technological governance that prioritize local knowledge and contextual understanding.

Crucially, the Institute would have to guard against becoming a mere legitimation tool for corporate technological agendas. By extending its analysis into economic structures and power relations, it could ensure that AI development serves broader societal goals rather than narrow corporate interests. This requires a critical examination of how algorithmic systems distribute life chances and perpetuate existing social hierarchies.

The scope of investigation should include domains of particular importance to African political and economic life. Racial bias in AI systems, impacts on cultural and creative sectors, and the potential for social fracture induced by technological change would be central areas of concern. The Institute would not just assess risks but actively work to shape technological trajectories that align with democratic values and social justice.

Establishing an African AI Safety Institute represents more than an institutional response to technological change. It embodies an assertion of self-determination, a declaration that African societies will be active architects of their technological future, not passive recipients of systems developed elsewhere.