AI is an accelerator and never a source, Every claim must be verified – Experts

Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts at a training workshop for the Media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have disclosed that AI is never a source and that users should apply local editorial judgement, when using the technology to enhance their work.

“AI is an accelerator and every claim has to be verified before publishing. Do not initiate outputs that cannot be defended because AI can make fluent mistakes”, they indicated.

The experts, including; Samuel Adranyi, CEO and Founder Afrilogic Solutions, Kwame Manu, Senior Manager, Digital Analytics and Monetization at MTN Ghana and Nehemiah Yelu Attigah, CEO HatuaTech made the revelation at MTN Ghana’s AI Training for the media and CSO’s in Accra.

The hands-on session on Artificial Intelligence was under the topic: “From AI Curiosity to Evidence-Driven Confidence”.

They asked all to ensure transparency by disclosing there were AI elements in their contents.

The experts warned that “AI is an extension of our lives so feeding the tool with confidential information exposes your life in public”, adding, “the information given to AI informs the output”.

Kwame Manu, Senior Manager, Digital Analytics and Monetization at MTN Ghana stated that MTN intended to use data to drive value for Ghana by supporting government agencies to be more data driven.

He touched on talents development and disclosed that MTN Ghana had instituted an award scheme to give top performing students in computer science an opportunity to work with the company as interns to keep them in the country.

“The students are intended to develop solutions to the country’s problems, hence, a call on the media to help push for the responsible use of AI to develop more solutions”, he stressed.

Kwame Manu again called on the media to work collaboratively with MTN Ghana to find solutions to problems bedeviling the country.

He further stated that MTN Ghana had plans to help enhance the work of local AI platforms in order for them to achieve the leverage they require.

The Head of Corporate Communications at MTN Ghana, Efua Falconer, maintained that “AI has come to stay with us and if we don’t embrace it, we’ll be left behind”, reiterating that verification is key.

She stated that technology was impacting the way we live and called on all to be abreast of current trends.

She however thanked the media for telling the MTN story over the years.

Participants at the MTN AI Training resolved not to rely solely on Artificial Intelligence without verification or doing thorough research, after learning that AI can sometimes churn out false information.