While corporate SA is said to be leading the charge in artificial intelligence (AI) integration, South African government departments are taking notes in hopes of following suit.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DJCD) is working with the SA Law Reform Commission and other agencies to assess how AI will impact South African laws.
Additionally, the aim is to determine how the technology can enhance the work of the DJCD, according to minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, speaking during a webinar yesterday on intellectual property, AI, justice and rights.
“This [process] will help us to review and suggest possible amendments of our policies and legislation,” she said.
“We currently do not have a policy as a country; [however], we are in the process of making the policy through the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies [DCDT].”
The document was released in July for final comments and therefore is going to Cabinet and should be adopted, she noted.
The minister believes there are several areas where AI can enhance and support the department’s work and boost service delivery, citing the South African Revenue Service (SARS) as an example.
“Part of our work includes the work of the Masters Office, which deals with millions of South Africans on daily basis…giving them information on how the Masters Office can assist them. In this area, we can introduce bots that are now very popular in the private sector.
“These robots can interact, offer services, give information and so on. I believe this is the low-hanging fruit that we can exploit as a department.”
Kubayi continued: “SARS is already using bots that are powered by ChatGPT, and I visited the offices in Centurion and I was impressed. We are working with them to be able to assist us in terms of our services, but also to be able to automate and provide responses to some of the questions that people have.
“AI can [also] assist in automating our IT system, so that our work can be more efficient and effective.”
Tax authority SARS is among the notable government entities that have seamlessly integrated technology, including AI capabilities, to streamline services, boost efficiency and enhance government revenue management.
The national statistical service Statistics SA is also researching the use of AI in producing official statistics.
Other departments, like home affairs, have also increasingly prioritised AI. The DCDT previously announced that SA and China have agreed to formally advance a proposed memorandum of understanding on AI cooperation.
Kubayi pointed out that AI is also being looked at as a tool to proactively detect corruption while in the process of conducting lifestyle audits.
“AI can detect patterns and can collect data about individuals at a rapid rate, and detect unusual behaviour that suggests corruption or fraud activities.
“Whether it’s within the work that is done by the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] or the IDAC [Investigating Directorate Against Corruption], we believe this is one of the critical areas of utilisation of AI, and that’s why we’ve taken a decision to train quite a number of our investigators and prosecutors in this area.
“[We] believe this will be able to assist us to pick up lifestyle patterns, to pick up where there are issues, spot areas of concern and individuals of interest, so that they can cap corruption [at the source]. We do believe that prevention would be better than having to react,” Kubayi explained.
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