The person at the helm of Africa’s first artificial intelligence (AI) hub, Dcotor Moses Khanyile, sees it contributing to the regulatory framework for defence-related AI across the continent.
The hub, dubbed the Defence Artificial Intelligence Research Unit (DAIRU), resides in Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Military Science at the Military Academy, Saldanha Bay. It officially came into being with a launch function with then Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele the main functionary. He is now deputy minister of the same portfolio in the government of national unity (GNU).
DAIRU, Khanyile informs readers of AMD (SA Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association) newsletter five for 2024, is designed to conduct academic and applied research on AI-related matters relevant to the Department of Defence (DoD) in general and the military in particular.
DAIRU, according to him, comes at an opportune time as the world grapples with the critical issue of regulating AI technologies in terms of development, access to certain capabilities and the associated ethical dilemmas involved.
“While some developed countries, especially in the European Union (EU), through the EU Artificial Intelligence Act of 2024, have started defining certain parameters for AI regulation, this has not yet fully taken root in the African continent. It is envisaged that DAIRU, in collaboration with other key stakeholders, will contribute toward initiating and consolidating the regulatory framework on defence-related AI in the country and the continent.”
He is of the opinion DAIRU students will be part of the hub’s value proposition including “the ability to collaborate with various national and international AI practitioners and researchers in the defence ecosystem”.
DAIRU will also, according to Khanyile, be “instrumental” in providing advisory and decision support to Minister Angie Motshekga’s Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DoDMV).
To meet the needs of, among others, the SANDF and its cyber command and the SA Air Force (SAAF) Space Command Section, DAIRU will provide skilled AI practitioners. Fields of expertise, a defenceWeb correspondent reported, will include strengthening South African cyber resilience, improving border and maritime security, combating illicit trade and trafficking and boosting SANDF operational efficiency on and off the battlefield.
DAIRU is readying itself to take in students next year with, as per the newsletter, the process starting “in the second half of this year”. No further information is provided and the current Military Academy career portal lists five areas of study, none AI related.
