AI hallucinations call for heightened vigilance

SOCIETY is witnessing a growing enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its accompanying tools.

- WILLIE CHINYAMURINDI

Much praise has been given to the benefits of AI, particularly its ability to assist in making timely decisions and processing vast amounts of data quickly. On the African continent there is growing inquiry into the potency that Al technology can leverage in transforming value chains within the public and private sector. Ultimately, this could serve as a catalyst for economic and social change for the continent.

For South Africa, a number of researchers in the academy are also caught in the Al fad by aligning their research into this area. The desire at best is answering the question as to how we can leverage AI technology for the betterment of human and organisational capability development and outcomes. Policymakers have responded by setting up institutes dedicated to prioritising Al research. Saliently, these include the establishment of the AI Institute of South Africa in 2022 and also the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research through the Department of Science and Innovation.

Yet despite these advances, we need to be cautious. One such caution concerns a phenomenon known as AI hallucinations. In simple terms, Al hallucinations refer to the false confidence an AI system exhibits when generating information that appears credible but is, in fact, inconsistent, inaccurate, or entirely fabricated.