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Artificial intelligence - Intermediate

Responsible AI, Ethics and Data Protection in Africa

Use and buy AI responsibly: spot bias and harm, protect personal data, respect creators, handle deepfakes, and write an…

About this course

AI tools are spreading fast across Africa: in schools, clinics, farms, banks and mobile money. Used well they save time and widen access. Used carelessly they treat people unfairly, leak personal data, copy the work of creators and spread false information. Organisations now need people who can ask the right questions before and after an AI tool is introduced.

This intermediate course is organisational. You will look at benefits and harms in African settings, learn how bias shows up in hiring, lending, face recognition and language tools, and understand transparency and human oversight. You will learn personal data basics and the common principles in data protection laws such as the Uganda Data Protection and Privacy Act 2019, with a general comparison to Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the GDPR. Then you will cover training data, copyright, deepfakes, sector examples, policy writing, risk assessment, governance frameworks and questions for AI vendors.

This course gives general education, not legal advice. For decisions with legal effect, speak to a qualified lawyer or your national data protection office.

What you will learn

  • Describe real benefits and harms of AI in African schools, health, farming, finance and public services
  • Identify bias in hiring, lending, face recognition and language tools, and suggest fair practice
  • Explain transparency, explainability, accountability and meaningful human oversight
  • Recognise personal data and apply the common principles of data protection laws, including consent, minimisation and retention
  • Respond correctly to a personal data breach in the first hours
  • Explain how training data, copyright and creator rights affect everyday AI use
  • Detect and respond to deepfakes and AI-driven misinformation
  • Write a practical AI-use policy and complete a simple AI risk assessment for a small organisation
  • Ask AI vendors the right procurement questions and use frameworks such as UNESCO, the African Union and NIST

Course content

5 modules · 17 lessons · 5 h · 6 quizzes

Module 1: Benefits, harms and fairness3 lessons

See where AI helps and hurts in African settings, how bias appears, and what transparency and human oversight mean.

  1. AI benefits and harms in African contexts 15 min
  2. Bias and fairness with worked examples 20 min
  3. Transparency, accountability and human oversight 15 min
  4. Quiz: 6 questions
Module 2: Personal data and data protection law4 lessons

Learn what personal data is, the shared principles in data protection laws, and how to handle consent, retention and breaches.

  1. Personal data basics 15 min
  2. Principles of data protection laws 20 min
  3. Consent, minimisation and retention 15 min
  4. Breach response and security habits 15 min
  5. Quiz: 7 questions
Module 3: Training data, creators and truth3 lessons

Understand where model training data comes from, how copyright affects AI use, and how to handle deepfakes and misinformation.

  1. Data used to train models 15 min
  2. Copyright, creators and AI 15 min
  3. Deepfakes and misinformation 20 min
  4. Quiz: 7 questions
Module 4: AI in key sectors2 lessons

Apply responsible-AI thinking to schools, health, agriculture and mobile money.

  1. AI in schools and health 20 min
  2. AI in agriculture and mobile money 20 min
  3. Quiz: 6 questions
Module 5: Governing AI in your organisation5 lessons

Write an AI-use policy, assess risk, use governance frameworks, buy AI wisely and complete a capstone.

  1. Writing an AI-use policy 20 min
  2. A simple AI risk assessment 20 min
  3. Governance frameworks: UNESCO, African Union and NIST 15 min
  4. Questions to ask AI vendors 15 min
  5. Capstone: policy and risk assessment for a real organisation 25 min
  6. Quiz: 7 questions
Final exam

27 questions. Pass with 70% or more to earn your certificate.

What you need

  • Completed Practical AI Tools: Using AI Assistants Wisely (ai-tools-literacy), or equivalent experience using an AI chat assistant
  • A computer or smartphone with internet access
  • Comfortable reading and writing in English at work level

Further reading

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