As the world moves towards an Artficial Intelligence and technology driven future, Africa’s next generation needs to be equipped with the skills to thrive in this new landscape. In order for the people and the continent to progress, preparation is essential otherwise we risk being left behind.
AI has proven the risks it comes with, both for intellectual and interpersonal skills, so counteracting these risks before they perpetuate into something beyond repairable is essential. If PhD students can be expelled, writers questioned, what can stop children, who view AI as a seemingly harmless tool, from requesting AI to solve mathematics problems, generate English essays and do their homework while their brains slowly diminish and their critical thinking skills never constructed. What makes AI more dangerous is not the fact that it does these things, it is the fact that it can be told to “write this essay as an eight year-old”, undermining not just critical thinking, but creativity as well.
Research has shown that AI may not be all bad for children, as it has become a tool used to seek advice, perhaps preventing many may-have-been suicides or murderers. AI is also used to fill the curiosity gap by replying to questions many adults may have shushed away or blatantly ignored. Whether one likes or does not like AI, whether the negatives outweigh the positives, the fact that it has become a tool present all around us, almost unavoidable, rings true.
An immense amount of data is used to train Artificial Intelligence systems. Data retrieved from books, articles, the internet and in cases where these are limited, synthetic data manufactured by companies. A lot of ongoing debate and research about the racial and cultural bias undertaken when ‘feeding’ these systems is currently a popular topic among scientists, specifically black scientists who are among those who will be greatly affected. This poses a huge amount of risk for black children who are future employees, as these systems favour their white counterparts over them. As names are part of what is used to filter through CVs, the situation is exacerbated in Africa where most of our names are in African languages which is foreign to these systems.
Stefan Milne writes in a UW News article about new University of Washington research that found significant racial, gender and intersectional bias in how three state-of-the-art large language models, or LLMs, ranked resumes. The researchers varied names associated with white and black men and women across over 550 real-world resumes and found LLMs favoured white-associated names 85% of the time, female associated names only 11% of the time, and never favoured black male-associated names over white-male associated names. This is alarming for the future of African youth and ought not be taken lightly.
The fact that Africa is often overlooked where issues of innovation and technology are concerned, is the more reason why we should prepare ourselves and future generations for an AI-driven world. Alternative ways have to be considered and created as the job market seems bleak for black people in an AI-driven future.
African children and youth have to be taught about the concept, opportunities and dangers of Artificial Intelligence. They have to be well informed on how the developments of these systems prejudices them so they can be prompted to possibly start thinking of solutions. African future generations have to be taught on the uses of AI, and how they can utilize these systems to advance their communities, businesses and countries.
Many African children are unaware of the vast careers that are in the fields of science and technology. There has to be programs or ways where school kids are not only encouraged to study science, but are introduced to the various careers, beyond engineering and medicine, that are in the field.
African classrooms have to do away with notebooks and papers as a way of writing notes or assessing knowledge. When a normal school-aged child does not know how to turn on a computer, or what Word is, how is she or he expected to survive in a world where almost everything is going digital? Classrooms have to be up-to-date with the 21st century developments so that children can have the required skills and knowledge of digital tools and equipment.
Children and youth have to be taught on what to discuss and what not to discuss with AI tools, as these tools are still digital and privacy within the digital world is questionable.
Beyond the technical skills required for this new landscape, it has become crucial for African children to develop soft skills. Some of the most important soft skills are critical thinking, creativity, communication, problem-solving and empathy. These are crucial to both retain individuality as humans, and to ensure that relations between each other is not lost.
Some of the ways to teach soft skills to African youth are:
Reading
A journal article by P Matthijs Bal and Martijn Veltkamp of the National Library of Medicine is quoted as stating “According to Oatley, fiction presents a simulation of real-world problems, and therefore has real consequences for the reader. Often when someone reads a fictional story, identification with the characters in the story causes the reader to sympathize with the characters, and perhaps even experience the events in the story as if the reader experiences the events him-/herself. Consequently, the reader practices being empathic while reading a fictional story.” Reading not only builds empathy, but it stimulates imagination, leading to the building of creativity.
Activities excluding AI
Children have to be introduced to problem-solving activities where the use of AI is prohibited. This is so that they can be allowed the opportunity to think critically in order to come up with their own unique solutions, building their critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity skills in the process.
Group work
Whether at home or in classrooms, activities where children are required to work as groups is essential in order to build communication skills. Activities such as sports activities, classroom activities or games and chores at home are examples of such activities where communication can be built.
In conclusion, preparing African Children for an AI-driven future is non-negotiable and requires a multi-faceted approach. This involves teaching them about AI, updating classrooms to reflect the digital age, and developing essential soft skills. By doing so, we can ensure that African children are equipped to thrive in an AI-driven world and contribute to the continent’s growth and development.
References
Bal, P. M., & Veltkamp, M. (2013). How does fiction reading influence empathy? An experimental investigation on the role of emotional transportation. PloS one, 8(1), e55341. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055341
Milne, S. (2024, October 31). AI tools show biases in ranking job applicants’ names according to perceived race and gender. UW News.
The San African 
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