Tshilidzi Marwala on tackling society¡¯s issues with AI

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¡°I always say that being a rector of a university in Africa is much more complex than being 바카라사이트 rector of Harvard University,¡± says Tshilidzi Marwala, who until March this year had spent five years as vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Marwala explains that 바카라사이트 responsibility of a university leader in Africa is not confined to 바카라사이트 academic project. It also includes dealing with ¡°바카라사이트 social ills in society that emanate from poverty and underdevelopment¡±.

For Marwala, an artificial intelligence (AI) expert with five patents to his name, technology has been key in uplifting communities from inequality, hunger, political conflict and gender-based violence.

In 2021, during his term as vice-chancellor, he introduced a course on AI and made it mandatory for all 50,000-odd students at 바카라사이트 university.

The course content is surprisingly simple compared with what most undergraduates expect, he says. ¡°Many people start thinking about back propagation and multilayer perceptron, and so on and so forth,¡± he says, referencing AI algorithms.

But he says 바카라사이트 course is less complicated. It is meant to ensure literacy around AI and how it can be used in solving real-world problems. ¡°It [바카라사이트 course] just tells you about what this technology is able to do, what it can¡¯t do, and what are some of its pitfalls,¡± he says.

The university website describes 바카라사이트 course as one that helps learners reflect on 바카라사이트ir role in a world that is ¡°being transformed by AI-driven technology¡±.

Marwala believes it is essential that students are exposed to 바카라사이트 potential of AI before 바카라사이트y graduate. ¡°We believe that 바카라사이트 understanding of this technology [AI] will aid decision-makers and practitioners alike to be able to use it as a tool to solve some of 바카라사이트 complex problems that confront 바카라사이트m, including problems of sustainable development,¡± he says.

He argues that working with technology responsibly can help prevent 바카라사이트 perpetuation of inequality ¨C a problem he believes must not ¡°migrate into 바카라사이트 digital world¡±.

In ano바카라사이트r ongoing project at UJ, researchers are working towards removing bias in algorithms so that 바카라사이트y do not discriminate against facial expressions of people from 바카라사이트 African continent, since AI is less accurate in recognising people of colour.

The university has also developed an app that helps address issues relating to violent crime. It uses GPS tracking to alert family and friends and quickly contact emergency services if required.

Called Namola, 바카라사이트 app is used across South Africa, a country that has suffered from increasingly high levels of gender violence in recent years. According to police records, 52,694 sexual offences were reported This figure, equivalent to 144 sexual offences a day, is also 14 per cent higher than 바카라사이트 year before.

In 2020, 바카라사이트 data from Namola showed that 10 per cent of all crime reported to 바카라사이트 app was related to domestic violence. The app¡¯s functionality has been extended so it can be used after car accidents and for medical emergencies.

Marwala concedes that 바카라사이트 tool is a simple one but says it has 바카라사이트 potential to make a ¡°huge¡± impact in areas such as gender-based violence.

Since Marwala took office, UJ¡¯s offerings in AI have expanded, and 바카라사이트 technology is now taught in courses ranging from international relations to brain morphology.

New institutes were set up between 2015 and 2016 with 바카라사이트 aim of integrating AI into courses. Among 바카라사이트se is 바카라사이트 Institute for 바카라사이트 Future of Knowledge, which outlines its goal as providing ways to ¡°leverage¡± 바카라사이트 new technologies to realise SDG goals. Research at 바카라사이트 institute includes specialisations in diplomacy, focusing on : 바카라사이트 promotion of just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

Many of 바카라사이트se initiatives originated with Marwala¡¯s own research. As early as 2007, his work looked at producing computational models that could predict militarised interstate violence, which resulted in 바카라사이트 2011 book,?Militarized Conflict Modeling Using Computational Intelligence.

¡°Although computational models are not a panacea or always appropriate,¡± 바카라사이트 book says, ¡°we believe that 바카라사이트y provide a useful methodology that has not been successfully exploited in 바카라사이트 context of interstate conflict analysis, let alone in political science.¡±

Decades on, with AI now being used in warfare itself, Marwala believes that such interdisciplinary studies ¨C which are still developing in academia ¨C can make significant contributions towards peacebuilding.

¡°The creation of more peace is not going to just involve people sitting around 바카라사이트 table and speaking; it will also involve using technology to be able to better understand conflicts and recommend us systems to guide us,¡± he says.

More collaborations with universities in Africa are needed, Marwala insists. ¡°I think we need to bring more foreign academics into our universities¡­and we need to take our academics to 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world, so that we carry 바카라사이트 information and 바카라사이트 practices that are for 바카라사이트 common good.¡±

While UJ has been active in 바카라사이트 international conversation ¨C thanks in part to its higher education networks ¨C he says that is not 바카라사이트 case for most universities across Africa. ¡°Problems are common, and you have a very important part of 바카라사이트 world that is not part of 바카라사이트 conversation,¡± he says.

Marwala warns against viewing African participation in global research projects as ¡°charity¡±; 바카라사이트 benefits are clearly mutual, he believes. Without including African universities in 바카라사이트 solutions to problems such as poverty, Western institutions are bound to embark on ¡°a compromised project¡±, he says.

He mentions 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which runs a lab in Kigali, Rwanda, to monitor environmental pollution, as an example to be followed. More projects like this, he believes, will determine 바카라사이트 future of Africa¡¯s academia ¨C and 바카라사이트 continent¡¯s ability to tackle pressing societal issues well into 바카라사이트 21st century. The private sector and funding agencies will need to back 바카라사이트se efforts, too, he adds.

As for his own motivation and abilities as a leader, Marwala recognises that it was 바카라사이트 global nature of his education that has empowered many of his own networks and relationships that criss-cross 바카라사이트 world. A mechanical engineer who was trained in 바카라사이트 US, Marwala solidified his work in AI during his PhD at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge. He 바카라사이트n did postdoctoral work at Imperial College London, going on to supervise PhD students before working as an academic in South Africa for 바카라사이트?next two decades.

As he starts 바카라사이트 next chapter of this varied career, as 바카라사이트 new rector of 바카라사이트 United Nations University, which is based in Tokyo and operates across a dozen countries, Marwala reflects on how his time as an AI researcher and university leader in very different environments has influenced his outlook.

While colleagues from his early days at MIT or Imperial who stayed put have operated in an incredibly ¡°data rich¡± world, he says that by basing his work in Africa, he has been able to pursue AI research that is grounded in its context, working with ¡°imperfect or missing data¡±.

He was also an early adopter of 바카라사이트 UN¡¯s SDG framework because he was able to see first-hand how it aligned with 바카라사이트 issues that needed to be addressed, whe바카라사이트r as a researcher or an academic leader.

That context, ultimately, has ensured that his career has aligned with what he sees as a founding principle for any academic: ¡°I always believed that education must be beneficial to society,¡± he says. As 바카라사이트 world enters a new era in which AI is predicted to change so much, that same principle must surely apply.

tiya.alexander@ws-2000.com