FIJIANS don’t necessarily have to understand how Artificial Intelligence (AI) works in order to live with it.
This is the key message from UNESCO official Abel Caine.
Mr Caine, the senior project officer and program specialist of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, says what matters is how society prepares to use it responsibly and effectively.
Mr Caine, who has been actively advocating for the integration of AI into Fijian education and society, spoke on the importance of building AI literacy without fear mongering.
“At the highest levels, you see that there’s a whole lot of concern with AI,” Mr Caine said.
“Because all they are concerned about is the boogeyman videos and the science fiction movies that they’ve seen of Terminator and all that stuff,” he said.
He criticised the lack of understanding about AI among decision-makers, suggesting that fear is often based on fiction rather than fact.
“People don’t really know AI. I bet you any person that’s in authority in Fiji today has no clue how AI actually works.
“Now, you don’t really have to know how it works, like most people who drive cars, they don’t know how the internal combustion engine works.”
Mr Caine compared the responsible use of AI to learning to drive a car: people may not need to understand the technology at its core, but they must know how to use it safely and understand its implications.
Just as society has developed systems for driver education and licensing, Mr Caine suggested similar frameworks were needed for AI adoption.
“We need the same thing with AI as well.
“But AI helps us to actually go from just being importers of cars and drivers of cars to maybe designing cars.”
Mr Caine said the country may not have the capacity to manufacture high-tech products, but it could play a significant role in digital innovation and design.
“And we don’t stop there. You can design anything in the world.”
