ChatGPT makes a splash, African conference discusses challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence for developing countries

News on May 7, as the prospects and dangers of artificial intelligence are increasingly attracting attention, more than 2,000 researchers and engineers from around the world gathered in Rwanda this week to discuss artificial intelligence. Different visions of a smart future are hotly debated.

One vision is to build more powerful systems like ChatGPT that aim to surpass human intelligence to increase worker productivity and promote economic growth. Another vision is to create more targeted, small-scale AI solutions to address global challenges such as climate change, improving healthcare and protecting biodiversity.

This is the first important artificial intelligence research conference held in Africa this year. One of the highlights of the conference is more exchanges of ideas. The organizers hope that researchers from the United States, China and wealthy companies will be more aware of the various social problems faced by Africa, and that African researchers can also participate in discussions and express their unique insights.

Yoshua Bengio, known as one of the "Godfathers of Artificial Intelligence" and a member of the board of directors of the conference organizer, advocates pushing artificial intelligence technology to Africa: "It is obvious that In order for everyone to enjoy the potential benefits of artificial intelligence, we need everyone to participate."

In the months leading up to this conference, the chatbot ChatGPT became popular, which increased The urgency of discussing the trajectory of artificial intelligence and its short- and long-term impacts. The release of ChatGPT set off a global craze for generative artificial intelligence (AIGC), prompting large technology companies such as Google and Baidu to rush to launch their own similar products. These software can generate text and images, triggering concerns about job replacement and errors. Worry about the unbridled spread of information.

At this artificial intelligence research conference held in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, although OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, did not appear, it still became the focus of attention. Do you accept or resist where it's going? Opinions in the global artificial intelligence community have become polarized.

Recently, another "Godfather of Artificial Intelligence" Geoffrey Hinton announced his departure from Google in order to speak more freely about the risks of artificial intelligence development. Hinton said in an interview with the media that he is worried that this technology poses a threat to the long-term survival of mankind.

At the conference, many researchers from Africa and other developing countries said they were instead more concerned about the direct challenges artificial intelligence poses to their societies. They worry that the current trend of AIGC models may exacerbate the dominance of the United States and China in the development of artificial intelligence, which will bring about two problems: Either Africa will be left behind, or it will have to deal with the problems it brings. The consequences include facing more disinformation in African elections and the gradual disappearance of their native languages ​​in digital technologies.

Many researchers also worry that the development of beneficial artificial intelligence solutions that could help improve the basic quality of life for people around the world will lag.

Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, an Ethiopian researcher at Microsoft’s Kenyan office in Nairobi, highlighted key data issues, like filling out medical forms incorrectly, that are hampering the development of artificial intelligence The country's progress has not yet helped improve maternal health and reduce child mortality.

Tadesse also shared some success stories, such as using high-quality data and statistical analysis to find that child mortality in southern Nigeria is lower than the country’s average, which allows researchers to be more Conduct targeted investigations to identify the causes and devise solutions elsewhere.

Other attendees also described applications such as using satellite imagery to understand racial disparities in access to parks and health facilities, using sensors and mathematical models to improve grid maintenance, and using computer vision to detect agricultural diseases.

Bengio said he hopes this year’s conference will lead researchers to focus more on artificial intelligence for social good applications rather than purely on the pursuit of profit. He said: "We have discussed a lot about the risks of artificial intelligence, but we have not discussed enough about how to make better use of artificial intelligence."

Conference organizers said that there were 261 participants who identified themselves as being from Africa. , while there were only 16 in 2019. For years, the largest and most prestigious annual artificial intelligence research conferences were usually held in the United States or Canada because of their proximity to Silicon Valley. Due to visa issues, African researchers are often unable to attend conferences due to difficulty obtaining visas. This results in a lack of African perspective in the development of one of the most powerful and transformative technologies.

Prominent researchers, including AI ethicist Timnit Gebru, point out that research tends to focus on a handful of dominant players in Silicon Valley, with a lack of non-Western or from the fringes. group of researchers.

Gebru grew up in Ethiopia and came to the United States as a refugee. In 2017, she founded the nonprofit Black in AI to bring more diversity to the artificial intelligence community.

Gebru moderated a panel discussion last Friday on the limitations of large language models in handling African languages. These models are the underlying technology on which ChatGPT is built, but African languages ​​are increasingly being excluded from the digital world due to a lack of data required by current artificial intelligence technology. Gebru said she co-wrote a paper criticizing the explosive resource demands and environmental impact of the model that also underpins Google's search engine. Gebru had previously been fired from Google, attracting public attention. Internally, Google characterized her departure as a resignation.

In another panel discussion, Vukosi Marivate, professor of data science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and conference program chair, said that African researchers are grappling with the threat of losing their native languages. struggle. "We are in a race against time" before English takes over and African languages ​​cease to exist, he said after the event.

Although Kigali is thousands of kilometers away from Silicon Valley, people still cannot escape the temptation of AIGC tools such as large language models and ChatGPT. Researchers packed the lecture hall for related conferences, sitting on the floor, leaning against the walls, and others rushing straight from the airport to sit on suitcases.

Many researchers said they were surprised by OpenAI’s research results, prompting them to actively expand their models. A doctoral student attending the meeting said that he plans to shift the focus of his studies to AIGC and join the most exciting research directions. "This will be the last conference not dominated by large-scale language model research," he said. (Xiao Xiao)

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