Executive Director of the Civil Empowerment & Rule of Law Support Initiative (CERLSI), Sam Kargbo SAN, has pushed for the establishment of a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Social Media in Nigeria.
The legal luminary made the call at the 3rd Annual Law Week of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) which held at Ogbomosho, Oyo State, on November 29, 2023, where he delivered a paper titled ”Social and Legal Issues of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence”.
Speaking to newsmen after the presentation, Mr Kargbo said the call for the establishment of the AI and Social Media Ministry is based on the relevance of artificial intelligence in governance, rule of law, the economy, politics and diplomacy.
“Artificial Intelligence is a real world that is creeping into us. If we do not get adapted to it, and prepare and be part of it as quickly as possible, we could be left very behind,” Kargbo said.
“We are already playing the catch-on in almost every aspect of humanity. Machines are beginning to think better than humans, and tomorrow there is the possibility that a superhuman being could be created to be reflective as humans are. I am by this medium calling on lawmakers, policymakers and whomsoever is supposed to get us ready for that eventuality to do their job,” he said.
He called for a review of the educational systems in Nigeria, maintaining that if this was not done as quickly as possible, Nigeria’s university systems may not be able to function in the future and give ‘quality output’.
”If the universities do not produce graduates who can respond to emerging and contemporary issues, machines will then do those things easily and render the system useless. This is a new world order, the old world is dying, and for government, this is a warning that the systems on ground today may not be there tomorrow,” Kargbo said.
