Africa-Press – Ethiopia. AS artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is taking over the world, Africans have been urged to equip themselves with new skills so they can remain relevant.
This was said Tuesday by professor Arthur Mutambara at the Artificial Intelligence Summit for Africa 2025, which was hosted by Zimbabwe Independent, one of the three Alpha Media Holdings publications, in partnership with the Artificial Intelligence Institute Africa (AIIA).
The summit, which ended in Victoria Falls on Tuesday and ran under the theme AI-powered Transformation Unlocking New Frontiers for Sustainable Social Economic Growth, brought together experts and stakeholders to discuss the transformative potential of AI in driving sustainable socio-economic growth.
Mutambara highlighted that AI is set to change the world, warning that Africa should develop competent skills to move with its wave.
“There are three categories of people in the AI revolution: those who will lose their jobs, those whose jobs will be modified, and those who will gain new jobs,” he said.
“There will be job destruction, but there will also be job modification and new jobs. The key is to ensure that the job equation is satisfied, meaning the new jobs plus the modified jobs must be more than the destroyed jobs.”
Mutambara also stressed out the need for a new approach to education, one that focuses on developing skills, competencies and capabilities required for the new jobs created by AI.
“We must educate differently,” he said.
“We need new teachers, new professors to produce the skills required for the new jobs.
“My friends, Lovermore Madhuku and Munyaradzi Gwisai, have no capacity to teach and produce a specialist lawyer who can ensure that an agreement made in the metaverse is encoded in the blockchain layer.”
The solution, according to Mutambara, lies in actively preparing teachers to produce the new skills and jobs required by AI.
“We must make sure we prepare the teachers to produce these new jobs and skills. We are moving away from certificates to skills and capabilities. We are now emphasising impact.”
As AI continues to transform the world, Africa should be prepared to adapt and develop the skills required to thrive in this new era.
Also addressing the same conference, ICT Tatenda Mavetera minister called on Africa to adopt AI.
“We are not here to debate whether AI will shape our future. No. We are here to ensure that Africa itself shapes AI for our future, a future rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu: I am because we are,” she said.
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