Abstract
Sub-Saharan Africa is characteristically confronted with poverty, hunger, disease, drought, war, climate change and inequality among other problems. However, the advent of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) presents an opportunity for Africa to solve some of these problems through technological innovations offered by information technology, internet of things, networks, robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and superintelligence. These have been absorbed and engrained into human lives and completely changing the way humans live. It is therefore clear that the 4IR is an inescapable reality. Yet the ethical reflection on the relations that ought to exist between human beings and technology seems to be philosophically absurd. One might not expect ethical considerability to be extended beyond humans to include things that cannot directly be harmed such as technologies, although use of technologies has ethical implications on humans and the environment. I argue for the need for introspection on relations between humans and technology. By reflecting from the perspective of African ethics, I consider the positive impact of the fourth industrial revolution in Africa and seek to critically analyse the ethical issues, dilemmas and controversies associated with it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The italicisation of the word is deliberate because it is absurd to think of how machines could be human moral counterparts or moral agents in their own right.
- 2.
My emphasis.
References
African Development Bank Report. (2019, October). Unlocking the Potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa.
Aristotle. (2011). Nicomachean Ethics: Book 1 (R. C. Bartlett & S. D. Collins, Trans.). In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Begashaw, B. (2020). Strategies to Deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. In B. S. Coulibaly (Ed.), Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent 2020–2030 (pp. 9–13). Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Broadbent, A. (2019). Power of Prediction: Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution Won’t Happen. Daily Maverick. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from dailymaverick.co.zw/opinionista/2019-02-28-power-of-prediction-why-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-wont—happen/
Cath, C., Wachster, S., Mittelstadt, B., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2018). Artificial Intelligence and the ‘Good Society’: The US, EU, and UK Approach. Springer Science, 24, 505–528.
Coeckelbergh, M. (2019). Artificial Intelligence, Responsibility Attribution, and a Relational Justification of Explainability. Science and Engineering Ethics., 1–18. Retrieved June 6, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-019-00146-8
Dzobo, N. K. (2010). Values in a Changing Society: Man, Ancestors and God. In K. Wiredu & K. Gyekye (Eds.), Person and Community: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies, 1 (pp. 223–240). Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.
Gyekye, K. (2013). Philosophy, Culture and Vision: African Perspectives. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers.
Izibili, M. (2005). Environmental Ethics: An Urgent Imperative. In P. O. Iroegbu & A. O. Echekwube (Eds.), Kpim of Morality Ethics: General, Social and Professional (pp. 383–390). Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books.
Kabou, A. (1993). Weder arm noch ohnmächtig: Eine Streitschrift gegen schwarze Eliten und weisse Helfer [Et si l’Afrique refusait le developpement?]. Trans. M. Brüninghaus & R. Renschler, with an Introduction by R. Renschler. Basle: Lenos Verlag.
Mbiti, J. S. (1970). African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Menkiti, I. A. (2004). On the Normative Concept of a Person. In K. Wiredu (Ed.), A Companion to African Philosophy (pp. 324–331). Malden: Blackwell.
Metz, T. (2012). An African Conception of Human Dignity: Vitality and Community as the Ground for Human Rights. Human Rights Review, 2012(13), 19–37.
Metz, T. (2019). An African Theory of Moral Status: A Relational Alternative to Individualism and Holism. In M. Chemhuru (Ed.), African Environmental Ethics: A Critical Reader (pp. 9–27). Cham: Springer Nature.
Mpofu, R., & Nicolaides, A. (2019). Frankenstein and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR): Ethics and Human Rights Considerations. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 8(5), 1–25.
Ndung’u, N., & Signé, L. (2020). The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Digitisation will Transform Africa into a Global Powerhouse. In B. S. Coulibaly (Ed.), Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent 2020–2030 (pp. 61–66). Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Philbeck, T., Davis, N., & Larsen, A. M. E. (2018). Values, Ethics and Innovation: Rethinking Technological Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Prozesky, M. H. (2009). Cinderella, Survivor and Saviour: African Ethics and the Quest for a Global Ethics. In M. F. Murove (Ed.), African Ethics: An Anthology of Comparative and Applied Ethics (pp. 3–13). Scottville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Ramaphosa, S. (2020). A National Strategy for Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Case of South Africa. In B. S. Coulibaly (Ed.), Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent 2020–2030 (pp. 71–73). Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva: World Economic forum.
Smith, C. (2019). Revolutionary Technology will Derive African Prosperity—This is Why. World Economic Forum. Retrieved June 11, 2020, from weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/why-the-4ir-is-a-fast-track-to-african-prosperity/
Táíwò, O. (2010). How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Tempels, P. (1959). Bantu Philosophy (Trans. Rev. C. King) Paris: Présence Africaine.
Verharen, C., et al. (2014). African Philosophy: A Key to African Innovation and Development. African Journal of Science, Innovation and Technology, 3(1), 3–12.
Xing, B., & Marwala, T. (2017). Implications of the Fourth Industrial Age on Higher Education. The Thinker, 73, 10–15. Retrieved May 14, from http://www.thethinker.co.za/resources/73%20xing%20and%20marwala.pdf
Acknowledgements
This research was fully funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung/Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chemhuru, M. (2021). The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Africa’s Future: Reflections from African Ethics. In: Okyere-Manu, B.D. (eds) African Values, Ethics, and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70550-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70550-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70549-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70550-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)