Breckenridge: The problem of the history of the extraversion of science on African continent understandably behind the ongoing anxiety about Africa's place in 4IR. #4IR #UJ

Breckenridge: The role of finance in driving AI systems is key, but not all bad: controversially providing many Africans with unprecedented access to credit, having previously been heavily circumscribed under colonialism

Breckenridge: dangers are real - privacy worries, but also a leapfrog fetish, where African states embrace AI rather than building paperwork skills at heart of effective government; risk that the poor will be completely locked out of opportunities (including taking on debt)

Ballim: notes similarities between machine learning & alchemy/divination; perils of 'algorithmization of society', surveillance, now extended to African phenotypes. Key question: who holds the levers of power and what are the biases of these models of machine learning?

Marwala: AI fundamentally about maximising resource acquisition (the 'modernisation of productive resources' in Marx's sense), as with other historic technologies.

Marwala: Africa's problem is one of lag; leapfrog opportunities undeniable, rather than a worry. Democratisation of machine learning tech has happened, data asymmetry is the only problem.

Marwala: new economic order is undoubtedly replacing proletariat (in Marx's terms) with machines. We have to handle this looming economic crisis.

Marwala: was a member of 4IR gov commission: South African investment in social capital (literacy, skills) and AI in general needs urgent attention and incentivisation if deindustrialisation slide is to be reversed.

Marwala on exclusionary aspects of AI: easier to change algorithms than society

Breckenridge: the bureaucracy needs to process paperwork better otherwise little else (including AI) will work.

Ballim: the question of who controls data is key and remains at the heart of legitimate anxieties on the African continent and elsewhere.

Breckenridge: we're trapped, in South Africa, between liberal model of privacy and inability to deliver the necessary infrastructure

Marwala: fundamentally we need better schools and schooling.

CFP out for the 29th Biennial Southern African Historical Society Conference hosted by the UJ Department of History University of Johannesburg UJ Faculty of Humanities, 26-28 June, 2024.

Reminder: the 29 Feb deadline for abstract submissions for the 2024 Southern African Historical Society Biennial Conference, hosted by the UJ History Department is fast approaching . Submit abstracts here: sahs.org.za/event/2024-sah…

A final extension for abstract submissions for 2024 SAHS Conf has been granted 'til April 15th. Submit via sahs.org.za Southern African Historical Society

Join us for Khumisho Moguerane's book launch Love Books with FB: Jacana Media on June 3rd

The revised programme of the 2024 SAHS is available tinyurl.com/yyk6btch

The 29th Southern African Historical Society conference is underway University of Johannesburg under the theme "History at the Precipice: Continuity, Change and Crises in Southern Africa". Join us over the course of the next three days to listen to new and exciting research on the region. #SAHS2024

'Keynotes' plenary underway, opening the #SAHS2024 conference Southern African Historical Society