AI and Exclusion in Public Digital Systems

Emerging technologies seemingly present a predictive challenge. Both the dystopian and utopian narratives that followed the popular emergence of ChatGPT have been well characterised as missing out on many of the immediate realities of risks and harms Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to exacerbate because of historic, and present, socio-economic and political conditions. Futuristic speculation often distracts from existing lessons from digital introductions that exist on the African continent already.

This paper will consider two different digital infrastructure projects in the South African public sphere that involve financial provision to extract some lessons for AI governance and policy of import. Limiting the case studies to the financial aspects allows a significant focus on the particular intentions of different parties, and highlights the public-private intersections inherent in South Africa’s AI future.