The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has said that the Nigerian government will act responsibly in the deployment of Artificial Intelligence to fix the nation’s economy.
This is just as he maintained that the deployment of AI would be done in a manner that guarantees national security.
The lawmaker stated this while receiving a delegation from Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) led by the Vice President (Africa, Middle East and Turkey), Mr Kojo Boakye and the Director, West Africa, Adaora Ikenze at the National Assembly Complex on Tuesday.
Meta is an American multinational technology conglomerate that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, Levinus Nwabughiogu, Kalu was quoted to have appreciated Meta’s contributions to Nigeria’s digital economy particularly its investments in Nigeria in the area of fibre optic cables, mobile partnerships, and business capacity support for entrepreneurs and small and medium scale enterprises.
Kalu according to the statement noted that the news of the 45,000km Africa subsea cable landing in Lagos and Akwa Ibom states “Is particularly exciting, given its potential socio-economic impact on the country.”
He said: “I heard you mention things about AI. You are interested in AI when you mentioned the various areas where Meta is involved beyond Facebook and Instagram. Then I saw you’re interested in AI and I’m happy that the government of President Bola Tinubu chose technology as one of the areas that will help this administration to advance towards achieving its set national objectives.