Explore pros and cons of AI, MPs urged

Sunday Mail Reporter

LEGISLATORS should not be left behind in implementing artificial intelligence (AI) but should foster debates in Parliament on the pros and cons of AI, a report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade says.

The document was compiled by chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade Mr Webster Shamu after a parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, attended the Second World Summit of the Committees of the Future in Uruguay recently.

The summit, which ran under the theme “Bringing the future to the present: the democracy of the future, artificial intelligence and parliaments”, deliberated on the positive impact made by AI and attendant challenges.

According to the report, use of AI in parliamentary processes is increasingly becoming relevant. “AI can speedily analyse complex legislative issues, identify patterns and make predictions based on historical data. This speed allows for faster decision-making in parliamentary processes. However, human being parliamentarians bring experience, knowledge and the ability to consider ethical and moral aspects that AI may struggle,” says the report. The report says, in a presentation during a workshop at the summit, Advocate Mudenda exhorted parliaments to embrace the future. “Speaker Mudenda further opined that parliaments should ensure that MPs and their staff are not left behind in the trailblazing AI revolution.

“Within the scope of President Mnangagwa’s mantra of leaving no one and no place behind, Speaker Mudenda advised on the need to ensure that there is accelerated capacity building for MPs and staff through anticipatory research so as to up skill all the demographic groups in the artificial intelligence ecosystem.”

Advocate Mudenda also commended nations such as Uruguay and Finland for taking the lead in implementing AI in their parliaments and said the technology was unavoidable.

“There’s a need for collaborative efforts with the Executive so that the two organs of the State can walk side by side while implementing artificial intelligence applications in their e-governance without leaving the Judiciary behind.

“An appropriate legal framework should guide the committees of the future on how to manage the artificial intelligence phenomenon as a tool for accelerated socio-economic development, which digital tool can be a double-edged sword, where AI creates negative impacts,” Advocate Mudenda said in his presentation.

In recommendations made in his report, the committee chairperson, Mr Shamu, said: “Parliament should include AI and the future in its 2024-2029 Institutional Strategic Plan, as well as Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.”

He also recommended that Parliament should collaborate with the Harare Institute of Technology, engage with the executive and conduct training with legislators on AI and its future.

The report also revealed that on the sidelines of the summit, Advocate Mudenda met Uruguay’s President Luis Lacalle Pou.