JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA 15th October 2024:
The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA), has made a submission to the Information Regulator of South Africa regarding the ethical use of data to train their Ai Models for the LinkedIn Platform without prior consent.
SAAIA is an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa, and has as its top three stated objectives to; serve as the voice of the Ai industry, to provide analysis and research to inform strategy and decision making and to help national, provincial and city governments with policy making
SAAIA seeks to encourage all Ai industry stakeholders to adopt responsible AI for commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, and investment.
Increasing Concerns on Personal Data Worldwide
Worldwide there is increasing concern as to the safety and privacy of personal data across social media platforms, that is now being utilised to train Large Language Model Ai products. The European Union has taken the lead on this and has recently introduced a policy that will see strict controls being implemented.
Content creators, writers, designers, artists, and various other specialised skills are being used to create Ai models that can essentially replicate their content and this is of concern to a wide range of people who rely on their content for value to clients and customers.
Dr Nick Bradshaw, the founder of SAAIA, provides comment saying: “The race to build new AI products and services is a global one but its impacts can also be local. We have been monitoring the breakneck speed of AI innovation as vendors and investors are spending huge sums of money to bring these new offerings to market, and while doing so, we are assessing if this is being done in a responsible manner”, he said.
“To this end, we feel it’s important that individuals and nation states must not be disadvantaged in both the short and long term, especially when it comes to how our personal data is being used to train the next generation of AI powered platforms and applications.”
SAAIA Substantiates their Submission
SAAIA Advisory Board member Nathan-Ross Adams who heads up regulatory affairs, and who was a key figure in drafting their submission, stated, “Our letter of complaint to the Information Regulator is focused on LinkedIn’s use of South African users’ personal information to train its generative artificial intelligence (AI) models in that:
1) it does not meet the conditions for lawful processing under Chapter 3 of POPIA,
2) their conduct likely constitutes interference with personal information as outlined in section 73 of POPIA and
3) given the significant public interest, requires investigation from the Information Regulator.”
Adams added, “This is more than just a legal matter, it’s about protecting the rights of individuals in an age where data is currency. SAAIA’s mission is to ensure that as AI grows more powerful, it also grows more accountable.”
Bradshaw concludes that, “The SAAIA mission is to engage society in this debate, be they citizens or governments, AI novices or AI experts. No one should be left behind in the race to embrace AI. It is of vital importance that the opportunities presented by Artificial Intelligence should have at their heart the principles of Responsible AI and don’t just benefit a select few. We will await the feedback from the Information Regulator of South Africa on this important matter.”
South Africa currently does not have an Ai policy and there is growing concern that left totally unregulated would create ethical and copy right or intellectual property infringements without any recourse.
