The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Hadja Memounatou Ibrahima, has urged lawmakers to emphasise the importance of harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance democracy and governance in the region.

While giving her closing remarks at the end of the three-day seminar on AI themed: ‘Disinformation and Misinformation in the Era of AI: Challenges for Governance in the ECOWAS Region’, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament highlighted the potential of AI in facilitating communication between parliamentarians and citizens.

Represented by the fourth Deputy Speaker of the 6th ECOWAS Parliament, Billay Tunkara, from The Gambia, Ibrahima noted that AI is a tangible reality that offers better potential for informed deliberation, optimised legislation, and strengthened parliamentary oversight.

She emphasised that legislators within the region must look into how to utilise AI to improve democracy by providing a better regulatory framework.

Panellists at the seminar, during their remarks, called for a human-face regulatory framework and continuous enactment of laws to keep pace with the evolving nature of AI.

The panellists agreed that AI is a global competitive tool that can revolutionise the world, fuel major advances in all sectors of life, and test shared values and fundamental rights.

Speaking, Ibrahima said: “These few days of intensive discussions and forward-looking analyses have confirmed an obvious fact that history will remember: the Artificial Intelligence revolution is irreversible.”