If machines can help us serve the public better, shouldn’t we let them?
In 1995, a man named Clifford Stoll sat at his desk and made a prophecy. He was a tech columnist — one of the supposed sharp minds of the digital age — and yet, with full confidence, he declared that the internet was a passing fad. Online shopping? A joke. Digital books? Please! Reading the news on a screen? Never. His words made it to print in Newsweek, and for a brief moment, his certainty sounded reasonable.
Of course, history humbled him. Today, Stoll is best remembered not for his brilliance, but for being spectacularly wrong.
And now here we are, 30 cool years later, watching a new kind of scepticism rise. This time, the object of dismissal isn’t the internet. It’s Artificial Intelligence (AI). People are laughing again — brushing it off, calling it a gimmick, a toy, a “tech bro” fantasy, or maybe a first-world thing. And just like before, they’re missing the plot.
Because while we argue about AI on X (formerly Twitter), the world is moving — faster than during the internet revolution. And Africa? Well, Africa has a choice to make: sleep through this revolution like we did the last three, or grab the reins and ride the storm with the rest of the world.
It’s on the backdrop that I want us to talk about the elephant in the Cabinet.
In a country like Kenya — where a minister can be appointed without a shred of expertise in their docket, where basic questions about policy are met with blank stares and recycled soundbites — it’s time we asked the uncomfortable question: what if an AI minister could do the job better?
Yes. You read that right. Imagine a Cabinet where some ministries aren’t just powered by machines—they’re run by them.
Singapore partnered with Google Cloud in 2023 and gave public and private institutions three months of free access to build AI tools. In 100 days, they built 100 use cases. That’s not just a pilot, that’s a playbook. Their hospitals predict patient surges before they happen. Their traffic systems adjust in real time. Even garbage collection is algorithmically optimised.
While we’re arguing about, who sent a garbage truck to dump waste in Nairobi, Singapore’s AI is quietly detecting waste patterns, rerouting pickups, and preventing floods before a drop of rain hits the ground. You see the contrast? One country is using AI to build a smarter society. The other is re-enacting set books like Kifo Kisimani.
So let’s play it out: Suppose we had an AI system installed at the Ministry of Finance. It has 24/7 access to the country’s entire fiscal history. It sees every shilling entering and leaving public coffers in real time. It flags anomalies in procurement. Spots corruption patterns that human auditors miss. Simulates the long-term impact of new taxes before they even make it to the Budget Speech.
No kickbacks, no lobbying and no hotel conspiracies from room 350. Just data, logic, and results. This Finance minister wouldn’t get tired, wouldn’t need allowances and wouldn’t “form a taskforce to look into it.” It would just work. And that’s just one ministry.
Let’s be clear—I’m not saying we fire everyone and install AI avatars. Kenya doesn’t need less humanity in government; it needs more competence. But we also need to face a truth we’ve tiptoed around for too long: some of the people running key institutions have no business being there and no number of reshuffles, press conferences, or church donations will fix that.
So if machines can help us serve the public better, shouldn’t we let them?
In fact, the Commonwealth is already testing AI ministers. Yes, actual generative AI avatars representing entire ministries — reading national data, identifying problems, offering real-time policy advice. The pilot is running now. Not in 2030.
Kenya has the vision but not the vigour. From opportunity to necessity. People must know AI, not just see it as a "good to have." We’ve got an AI Strategy—2025 to 2030. Sounds good on paper. Talks about making Kenya a regional AI hub. However, there’s no concrete plan to embed AI where it matters most—in government operations and public service delivery.
While we hold endless conferences and ribbon-cutting ceremonies for digital hubs, our systems are still bleeding from outdated processes and analogue thinking. We need AI in county planning, procurement oversight, healthcare logistics and national budget monitoring.
So what needs to happen next? It’s simple. We don’t need more talk, we need AI co-pilots in key ministries. These are public dashboards powered by real-time data, mandatory AI training for senior civil servants, a home-grown AI ethics council to guide it all. All this will be supported by investment in local AI start-ups — so that Kenya can build its own tools build our tools to solve its problems. If we don’t do this, someone else will and we will be playing catch-up.
And let’s not forget what this is really about. This isn’t a tech story. It’s a trust story.
Kenyans have lost faith in their institutions. They’ve seen too many headlines. Too many “we’ll look into it” statements. Too many budget leaks and no consequences.
AI gives us a shot at restoring that trust—not because it’s perfect, but because it doesn’t lie, it doesn’t eat per diem, and it doesn’t forget what it said last week.
If AI can fly a plane, diagnose cancer, write code, manage logistics, and power global stock markets—then yes, it can absolutely run a ministry better than the guy who misquotes policy on live TV.
This isn’t a call to replace people. It’s a call to replace excuses.
Let’s not be like Clifford Stoll—dismissing disruption until it becomes too big to ignore.
In the end, we’re not choosing between humans and machines. We’re choosing between dysfunction and delivery; between political theatre and performance-driven leadership; between history repeating itself and us writing a new one.
But let’s be fair—this conversation isn’t complete without addressing the elephant in the server room: AI also comes with real ethical and governance concerns. It can entrench bias if poorly trained, misinterpret context in complex human affairs, and—if unregulated—become a tool for surveillance, exclusion, or authoritarian control. The very qualities that make AI so powerful also make it risky if left unchecked.
Who holds AI accountable? How do we ensure transparency in how algorithms make decisions? Who audits the data it learns from? These are not questions we can answer on the fly. That’s why any move toward AI integration must be matched with robust ethical safeguards. Kenya will need a national AI ethics framework, clear laws on algorithmic accountability, and independent oversight bodies that are as empowered as they are informed.
We don’t just need smart systems—we need just systems. The goal isn’t AI for AI’s sake. It’s to build institutions that are more transparent, equitable, and responsive to citizens. If we do it right, AI won’t replace humanity in governance. It will strengthen it.
And while the ethical concerns are valid, we must be careful not to let them become a convenient excuse for inaction. Every transformative technology — electricity, the printing press, the internet — came with its own set of fears and potential for misuse. Yet the greater risk was always being left behind. AI is no different.
If anything, the ethical concerns underscore why Kenya must be at the table, not just as adopters but as leaders in shaping how AI is used responsibly. Sitting it out won’t make the risks go away — it just means we’ll be reacting to someone else’s rules.
And here’s a call to action for our brightest minds: this is your moment. Kenyan AI researchers, university labs, civic tech innovators, and start-ups—this is your space to lead. Experiment with AI tools for public service. Develop prototypes for budget monitoring, land registry digitization, procurement tracking, or real-time service feedback loops. Civil society, don’t just critique from the sidelines—partner with technologists and test what’s possible. Universities, make this a research frontier. Let us be the country that doesn’t just ask government to innovate—we help it do so.
Because the future of AI in governance will not be built in Silicon Valley, it will be built by those who understand the problems on the ground. And that means us. The fourth industrial revolution is already here — and we’ve got no business waiting for an invitation.
The writer is a management consultant, whistleblower and active citizen
