AI remains abstract for most South Africans

Highlighting the need for greater awareness and inclusive technology governance

- RACHEL ADAMS LEAH DAVINA JUNCK

ARTIFICIAL intelligence or AI uses computers to perform tasks that would normally have needed human intelligence. Today AI is being put to use in many aspects of everyday life, like virtual banking assistants, health chatbots, self-driving cars, even the recommendations you see on social media.

A new survey of over 3000 South Africans from all walks of life asked how people feel about AI. It reveals that most South Africans can't relate to AI in meaningful ways — despite the global hype about its pros and cons. We asked two of its authors to tell us more.

The research set out to capture how South Africans understand, experience and imagine AI. It aimed to provide representative insights into levels of awareness, perceptions of impact, and degrees of trust in the institutions developing and deploying AI. The aim is to help create an empirical basis for more responsive and inclusive AI governance in the country.

We found that for most South Africans (73%) the term “AI” barely registers. AI increasingly plays a role in public life - often behind the scenes in areas like healthcare, credit scoring and social media moderation. But 37% of the survey respondents had never heard of AI, while 36% indicated theyd heard of it but knew very little about it and the role it might already be playing in their lives.