If We Don’t Shape Al, Al Will Shape Us – Dr. James Maisiri on Responsible Technology Adoption

Today, we’re going to explore a topic that seems to be touching nearly every industry, every workplace, and increasingly every part of our daily lives: artificial intelligence.

But this conversation is not just about what AI can do. It’s about what AI assumes, what it values, what it misses, and what happens when powerful technologies are deployed into environments they were not designed to understand.

My guest today is Dr. James Maisiri, an AI researcher and writer whose work focuses on responsible AI, digital transformation, education, labor markets, and the societal impact of emerging technologies.
His work has been featured through organizations and publications including UNESCO, Mail & Guardian, and others, and his message is both simple and profound: AI is not neutral.

In one of his 3 TEDx talks, Dr. Maisiri said, ‘If Africa does not shape AI, then AI will shape Africa.
While his work often focuses on African communities and institutions, the lesson is much broader.
Every industry, including electronics manufacturing, needs to think carefully about how we adopt AI, what assumptions are built into these systems, and how we validate their use before trusting their output.

In electronics reliability, we often say that context matters. Materials, environments, residues, humidity, temperature, field conditions, and use cases all influence performance.

Today, we’ll ask whether the same is true for AI.

I’m not really sure how much of this conversation will tie in directly to reliability, but it’s a fascinating subject nonetheless. Let’s see where it takes us.

The hidden danger of AI in Africa | James Maisiri | TEDxUniversity of Johannesburg