"SA National AI Policy Framework" Karen's submitted comments

South Africa has a National Artificial Policy Framework, which was published in October 2024 by the South African Department of Communication and Digital Technologies.

The eventual framework will serve as the foundational basis for creating AI regulations and eventually an AI Act for our country, South Africa.

The public was asked for comment on the SA National AI Policy Framework, by 17h00 on Friday, 29 November 2024.

This post is my reply to the October 2024 version of the South African National AI Policy Framework.

The Framework is built around a range of strategic pillars. Access this framework in the link at the beginning of the post on the DCDT website.

Each point in the letter refers to a particular strategic pillar/s, with a recommendation and comment.

Each comment is hyperlinked to a particular point within the letter. Click on the links to view further document details.

Comments in response to the 

“South African National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy Framework”

1. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy:

• 6.10 Human Control of Technology

• 6.11. Professional Responsibility

• 6.12. Promotion of Cultural and Human Values

• Recommendation 1: True Human-in-the-Loop

• See letter's details - click link

2. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy:

• 6.1 Talent Development / Capacity Development

• Recommendation 2: Guideline on AI educational integration

• Recommendation 3: Explicit AI curriculum design inclusion

• See letter's details - click link

3. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy:

• 6.2. Digital Infrastructure: Supercomputing Infrastructure and Digital Connectivity

• Recommendation 4: South Africa’s digital infrastructure to meet AI infrastructure

• See letter's details - click link

4. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy:

• 6.5. Ethical AI Guidelines Development

• Recommendation 5: Do no harm, be responsible

• See letter's details - click link

5. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy:

• 6.6. Privacy and Data Protection

• 6.7. Safety and Security

• 6.8. Transparency and Explainability

• 6.9. Fairness and Mitigating Bias

• Recommendation 6: Trustworthy AI

• See letter's details - click link

6. Strategic Pillars for the South Africa AI Policy

• 6.9. Fairness and Mitigating Bias

• Recommendation 7: Open demonstration of how fairness and mitigating of bias is achieved by organisations using AI tools

• See letter's details - click link

Thank you to the DCDT team, for the personalised reply. The email response included the following statement "The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) hereby acknowledges receipt of your inputs regarding the National AI Policy Framework."

Thank you for reading this post and the linked letter. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Did you or your organisation send feedback about the SA National AI Policy Framework to the government? I would be interested in reading your views.

Email your thoughts - info@karenwalstraconsulting.co.za

Dr. Karen Walstra

Reference:

• Noble, S.M., Mende, M., Grewal, D., Parasuraman, A. (2022) The Fifth Industrial Revolution: How Harmonious Human–Machine Collaboration is Triggering a Retail and Service [R]evolution, Journal of Retailing, Volume 98, Issue 2, Pages 199-208, ISSN 0022-4359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2022.04.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435922000288)

• All images generated using Leonardo AI and Google's Gemini inside Google slides