The Thinker

The Ghost in the Machine: The Ethical Risks of AI

Emile Ormond — 2020-03-11

A group of eminent scientists, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, notoriously claimed that: “Success in creating artificial intelligence (AI) would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last" (Hawkings et al., 2014).

Higher Education Leadership in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Jaco Du Preez and Saurabh Sinha — 2020-03-11

A number of universities in South Africa have taken up the quest for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Universities like the University of Johannesburg (UJ) aspire to “dynamically shape the future”, and the 4IR provides a perfect segue for this – the university’s approach towards the 4IR catalyses us to shape graduates who are able to think differently and to distinguish themselves in this way. In particular, our focus has been on learning. Learning encompasses a blend of teaching, research and innovation in an era where even the fundamentals are shifting.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Another Industrial Revolution Leaving Black Women Behind?

Malaika Mahlatsi — 2020-03-11

In 2016, Klaus Schwab – founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) – introduced a term that would have significant consequences for global politics, economics, science, and the way in which the world is organised. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), according to Schwab’s book by the same title, would be different in scale, scope and complexity from any that the world had seen before. This fusion of advances in complex technologies, including but not limited to robotics, quantum computing, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT), would affect all disciplines and industries of the modern world. It would reconstruct space, economies, governments and even challenge existing ideas about what it means to be human (Schwab, 2016).

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Another Industrial Revolution Leaving Black Women Behind?

Malaika Mahlatsi — 2020-03-11

Political Organising and Mobilising in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Reflection on the Gauteng Young Communist League of South Africa

Kgabo Morifi — 2020-03-11

What does the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) portend for the future of political organising and mobilising? As “a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds...a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies…” (McGinnis, 2018), the 4IR is primarily concerned with the inchoate transformation of the production of goods and services, resulting from the application of a new wave of technological innovations. Definitions such as these cement the narrow idea that the 4IR is principally about industry, when in reality it is a revolution that goes beyond economic activity concerned with the manufacturing of goods and services.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Nigeria: A Policy Conundrum and High Stakes for the Future of the African Continent

O.A. Ladimeji — 2020-03-11

This article argues that it is necessary to take into account political, cultural, and economic factors when evaluating potential responses to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This approach is similar to that taken by Joseph Schumpeter, who argued for the essential relevance of politics, culture and economics (1942). This article begins by identifying past national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies in Nigeria and their impact or lack thereof. It then seeks to identify the nexus that controls decision making in respect of ICT and responses to new technology, as well as which aspects of policy have been successful and unsuccessful. Finally, the article discusses the opportunities and challenges presented by the 4IR, with a focus on what a successful policy response would need to include and what might be the necessary pre-conditions for success.

Assessing a Common Currency in Africa

Anton M. Pillay — 2020-03-11

A common currency is a necessary condition for the realisation of the benefits of integration. The adoption of a single currency exposes domestic markets to foreign markets, thereby increasing competition between member countries and enhancing the competitiveness of national industries (Saka, Onafowokan and Adebayo, 2015). A common currency is the signification of an economic community and a united and developed people. The importance of African economies in global trade is not going to be judged by the power of each country’s individual economy, for there is none, so far, or by the stability provided by the benevolent hegemony of a colonial master. Rather, the power of African economies lies in the actual share of the proposed currency in world official foreign reserves, its liquidity in international trade, and its role as a competitor against the exorbitant U.S. dollar.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Importance of Disagreement

Alex Broadbent — 2020-03-11

In healthy dialogue, there are always people who disagree, even if they are eccentric flat-Earthers. Something about human psychology seems to require that some people always take up a contrary position to the majority on any substantive idea, and empirical evidence always permits this, because it always underdetermines the conclusions we draw from it. When there is no disagreement on a certain idea, therefore, we have to consider that we’re either not assessing the idea properly, or not entertaining all opinions. If we were, some of us would come to different conclusions.

Googling the US Electoral Cycle, 2004-2016: South African Insights

Bhaso Ndzendze — 2020-03-11

The US electoral cycle is one of the most closely watched political events in the twenty-first century. Indeed, in each successive year, new records are broken for expenditures on advertising by the campaigns. The digital sphere has become the main arena in which the various campaigns reach out to potential voters. By one 2019 estimate, “spending for political ads will reach $10 billion, an increase of 59% from the 2016 election year when an estimated $6.3 billion was spent. This represents a potential 16.5% of total local broadcast TV advertising revenue for 2020. Digital media is forecast for 21% of political ads, cable TV 14% and radio nearly 5%” (Adgate, 2019). This disproportional share for digital spending is indicative of what scholars have termed as the rise of computational politics, defined by one study as “the application of digital targeted-marketing technologies to election campaigns” (Chester and Montgomery, 2017: 1).

The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum: An Unprecedented Event in the History of African-Russian Relations

Alexander Mezyaev — 2020-03-11

The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum was held on 23-24 October 2019 in Sochi. This was an unprecedented event in the history of Russian-African relations, and was especially noteworthy in light of the almost total abandoning of Africa by Russia in the last thirty years.

Mohamed Enver Surty’s In Pursuit of Dignity

Hussain Savant — 2020-03-11

In Pursuit of Dignity is the unusual autobiography of our erstwhile Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Mohamed Enver Surty. The author served in government for twenty five years with distinction, and can be justly proud of a distinguished career both as a lawyer and as a government minister.