According to Britannica, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a digital computer or controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. It means that with AI, computers are programmed with human intellectual capacities and characteristics to perform that which ordinarily humans can perform.

Innovations in AI are growing so fast in different segments of human life with people and different countries of the world keying in appropriately to explore. We have the self driving cars that follow the basic traffic rules by themselves. We also have AI in security that can be used to detect anomalies and identify security threats and suspicious movements. Similarly, there are robots that collaborate with humans to work in companies to facilitate manufacturing processes. The health sector is equally not left out. AI in healthcare is used to detect complex medical and health care data.

With the dawn of AI in the world, Nigerians are also keying into this new brand of technology. In 2021, Dr. Olusola Ayoola, a robotic engineer developed a drone to detect kidnappers &terrorists. In 2022, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) trained 859 kids in Kano, Lagos and Abuja on AI robotics and drone. According to the daily trust (4th Nov. 2021), the Nigerian military is collaborating with NITDA to use drones and robots to gather intelligence in order to outsmart bandits and terrorists.

AI has become one of the best technologies for business, economy and society at large. With Artificial Intelligence, technologies are quickly evolving, life is made easier, large amount of data are processed much faster and predictions made more accurate than humanly possible.

Notwithstanding the beauty and effectiveness of AI, there are legal issues relating to it that need to be sorted. In other words, in the midst of all these AI algorithms where is the law? How do we regulate potential abuse or unforeseen repercussions of AI? For example, it was reported that in San Francisco, 92 separate accidents involved AI cars (Fortune.com).More so, When an AI system administers the wrong drug, injures patients or targets a wrong gathering mistaken it to be terrorists, who do you hold liable? Again, AI collects large amount of data and can predict private information about someone. How do we regulate the violation of data privacy and sharing such data with third parties? These existential legal issues call for a comprehensive understanding that takes into account the legal dimensions of Artificial intelligence.

For the above reasons, although the field of AI is still a growing area, regulating AI has become top priority of lawmakers and Governments of the world. The European Union, Brazil, Germany, Canada, USA and UK are already taking the lead in AI regulation.

In 2021, Brazilian lawmakers successfully passed a bill that outlines legal regulations for AI. The European Union proposed a legal frame work (EU AI Act) to guarantee the safety and rights of the people. UK lawmakers are adopting a sector led approach to regulate AI, while Canada on the other hand have come up with a regulatory framework for the regulation of AI, using human rights base approach.

In Nigeria, notwithstanding that the National Center for Artificial intelligence & Robotics (NCAIR) was established by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to promote research & development of Artificial Intelligence in areas of Nigerian interest, it’s high time the Nigerian lawmakers and stakeholders began looking at the legal and accountability aspect of AI.

Our lawmakers should actively collaborate with NITDA, relevant corporations, stakeholders and individuals to come up with laws on how AI algorithms should be implemented and explicable in Nigeria. Furthermore, since AI uses large amount of data and can influence online information, there is urgent need for the National Assembly to come up with data privacy and protection laws that provide effective legal safeguards for data collection and automated decisions that process personal data. This will help mitigate the abuse and misuse of personal data collected via AI.

We must set established legal artificial intelligence algorithm standards that look at the high risk factors and measures to mitigate associated risk, including persons to be held liable in the event these standards are not upheld. This will establish an effective framework for enforcement of legal rights and duties arising from the use of AI.

On the whole, given that the world is in the era of technological advancement that is transforming human society into one of robots and machines, Nigerian lawmakers must rise up like their counterparts in other parts of the world to set the legal structure for this new bride in Nigeria. The time to act is now.

By Barr. Christopher Yange Atsen

christopheratsen4@gmail.com (09023680998).