The FF Plus pointed out to the ANC government in the Gauteng Legislature that any plans for a digital economy make no sense while the province still needs to rely on candlelight to run its economy.
This warning was issued during this week’s debate in the Gauteng Legislature on the digital economy that has gained momentum worldwide.
A prerequisite for a digital economy is a reliable basis of power supply, which is currently not possible in Gauteng or the rest of the country because of the ANC’s reckless management of Eskom.
The world has already entered the fourth industrial revolution, while Gauteng and the rest of the country are regressing to candlelight.
The fourth industrial revolution entails humankind’s rush toward future cyber communities.
That is where the online world of computers is linked to the physical world of smart homes, self-driving cars, and service robots, and other services and products are delivered by means of programmed quasi-thinking machines.
The fact that the dawn of the fifth industrial revolution is already on the world’s lips highlights just how far behind South Africa really is.
The explosion in the development of artificial intelligence caught the world a little off guard, but there is already wide consensus that it will have an enormous impact on the economic and labour landscapes across the modern world.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to become man’s best friend, but it could also be our greatest foe if the disadvantages of its economic and labour implications outweigh the advantages over the medium and long-term period.
Therefore, the Gauteng Legislature’s Economic Development Committee must first conduct an in-depth study of the possible advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence for the province.
It must also be determined whether any form of safety regulation to limit artificial intelligence would be sensible, seeing as it could pose an existential danger.
Ultimately, at this stage, one can still argue tongue-in-cheek that if any form of artificial intelligence were to pose a threat to the human race – as is so often portrayed in sci-fi films – the robots will certainly not be able to take over South Africa, because they will not have the power to do so.
After all, computer programmes and robots cannot run on candlelight-power. In fact, the Southern tip of Africa might just be the only place where humankind will be able to triumph over the robot insurgence.
The world is developing, but South Africa is returning to the pre-industrial era.
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