An Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Chris Harrison, has urged the Federal Government to invest in Artificial Intelligence Literacy to leverage its numerous advantages.
The British-born American Computer Scientist, who made this known to Tribune Online on Friday, also advocated for the investment in curriculum development.
He noted that people need to be exposed to what AI can do and its usage.
Meanwhile, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University emphasized that the knowledge of Artificial Intelligence is important, but the application is a different ball game.
This was just as he stated that Artificial Intelligence is applicable in different instances, noting that it could be effective in one but not in the other.
“Nothing is quick and easy, unfortunately. It starts with education. Nigerians will need to invest in AI literacy, both for young students and also current professionals.
“Knowing about AI is important, but harder yet is having the wisdom to know when AI is a good fit for a problem.
“Many companies and countries are throwing AI at everything, but that isn’t an effective strategy (it just sounds good).
“AI is really good at some things and terrible at others. In other words, its an amazing hammer, but carpenters have many tools for different tasks for a reason.
“Many things, but one would be to invest in curriculum development. People need to be exposed to what AI can do, and how to use it. It is no different than knowing how to do spreadsheets and word processing.
“These are all important skills in the modern age. I do not believe you need a computer science degree for AI to be useful to you. It will be just as important as math and writing.
“Pushback on AI reminds me a lot of the history of calculators. Educators resisted calculators in the classroom and wanted all math instruction to be done manually on paper (so the students understood it). But the fact is calculators can make you better at math, not worse.
“The simple fact is that AI has arrived, and it is available to everyone. You don’t need a supercomputer or even fast internet to tap into the power of AI.
“As a regular (consumer) user, you can utilise it with an inexpensive laptop or smartphone. That’s perhaps the most level playing field that has existed in new computing technology in a while. Nigeria can and should take full advantage of this opportunity,” he said.
