Uk-nigeria Dialogue Urges Collaborative Efforts To Tackle Ai-related Scams

 UK-Nigeria Dialogue Urges Collaborative Efforts to Tackle AI-related Scams

Stakeholders in Artificial Intelligence have met at a policy dialogue in Abuja where they harped on the need to regulate the use digital tool to enhance productivity rather than deploying it for the purpose of misinformation, scams and other social vices.

The dialogue titled: 'UK- Nigeria Dialogue on AI, Scams and the future of the Youths',

was organized under the auspices of The International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) By Researchers From Bangor University ( UK), as part of an ongoing International research and Policy dialogue on AI-enabled Cybercrime and its societal implications.

They were of firm belief that the rapid advancement of AI poses significant, multifaceted dangers to the future of young people, ranging from cognitive and emotional development issues and societal risks.

AI they say is becoming increasingly embedded in education, social interaction, and daily life, therefore threatens to disrupt traditional learning, mental health, create room for scams, which may cause a great harm on the future of the youths.

Participants at the event said scams enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to reach a new level of deception with the introduction of features such as ChatGPT 4.0, which allows users to create convincing, photorealistic images, including fake documents, and realistic deepfake voices.

They are also of the opinion that fraudsters are always looking for new ways to trick people, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology is giving them powerful new tools to do so at a larger scale than ever before, hence, the need to converge and explore a window of solution.

Facilitators and tech-expert experts at the event collectively agreed that AI is not a threat but a tool for progress. They called for collaboration among governments, civil society, regulators and private organizations to create training programs and digital literacy campaigns aimed at equipping African youth with the skills needed to thrive in a technology-driven world.

They advocated for a comprehensive, intentional and all encompassing action as well as technologically driven information in order to ensure that the youths are well equipped, well- informed about the dangers and, tech-distortion inherent in the Use of Artificial intelligence.

One of the Facilitators, Prof. Vian Bakir of the Bangor University ( UK) said countries like Nigeria where illiteracy is in a large proportion should understand the dynamics of the dangers posed by AI.

She said, "It is a similar situation because people are people, I would imagine how people cope. The issue is getting people to understand that there is a problem and that it is a deepfake AI.

"I think that it is time that the government, civil societies and other stakeholders should be concerned by first accepting that there is a problem and share knowledge and make concerted efforts in solving the problem"

Also speaking, a Ph.D student at Bangor University and one od the facilitators of the dialogue, Dr. Ugochukwu Chimezie, urged the government to develop a symmetric strategy in ensuring that the Youths are well informed about the dangers of AI;

He called for proper education on how AI is used. "We have different languages in Nigeria, the government can start by teaching people about AI in their different languages it will help", he said.

At the end of the workshop, people were advised to watch out for scam methods such as: Voice cloning scams, scams are using AI to clone the voices of real people, such as family members, fake news scams, AI being used to create fake news articles that look like they're from legitimate sources and others fraudulent activities performed through the use of AI.