ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: ASSESSING NIGERIA’S PREPAREDNESS FOR ITS LEGAL IMPLICATIONS THROUGH HER CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

Abstract

The world is in a digital age as technologies shape the new way of life. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies now dominate all spheres of life and in most instances, have replaced human labour and have done so efficiently and effectively. Technologies have also found a way to make the performance of certain activities faster and seamless. It has undoubtedly come at a cost. The risks are as abundant as the benefits; this is where the legal and institutional frameworks come in to checkmate these negatives and limit these emerging technologies to a large extent its benefits only. The obvious risks include data rights violations, cybercrimes, cyber money laundry and privacy breaches. In most countries including Nigeria, there exists Data Protection Laws and other legal frameworks to regulate the impact of technologies on citizen’s rights and lives. These laws are what the researchers herein seek to assess to uncover its sufficiency or otherwise in the light of the ever emerging and evolving technologies. In a rapidly technologically advancing society, the law-making bodies have their work cut out in meeting up with enactment of laws and possibly making room for future eventualities. AI and other emerging technologies is also a bundle of powerful resources which in no distance time will rank well above natural resources currently sustaining countries of the would like Nigeria. However, the absence of proper and sufficient legal frameworks to regulate the efficient transition to this new world of technology may expose the citizens to numerous rights abuses. In this work, the researchers made some key findings which include the deployment of some of these laws in a wrong manner and the need for amendments to some provisions of the law.