Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly woven into everyday life in Nigeria. Students rely on chatbots for schoolwork, journalists and office workers use generative AI to draft and analyse information, businesses automate customer service, while banks and other organisations use algorithms to process large volumes of data. Content creators can now produce realistic images, voices and videos within seconds.
But as AI continues to advance, a difficult question is becoming harder to ignore. Could humans eventually create machines that become too powerful to control?
The concern gained fresh attention this week after Britain’s King Charles III warned technology leaders that stronger safeguards were needed before it became too late.
Speaking at a gathering of AI leaders at Dumfries House in Scotland, the King acknowledged the enormous opportunities presented by AI, particularly in medicine and life sciences. However, he also warned about the possibility of advanced systems developing dangerous capabilities or being used by the wrong people.
He said those developing the technology were increasingly warning about the possibility of AI acquiring darker capabilities, including the potential to take human life.
For Nigeria, where AI adoption is growing rapidly while regulatory, technical and institutional capacity continues to develop, the debate raises a more immediate question: how safe are Nigerians in an increasingly AI driven society?
Could AI Really Wipe Out Humanity?
There is currently no scientific consensus that AI will wipe out humanity. Existing AI systems do not possess the capabilities associated with a catastrophic loss of human control.
However, some researchers have warned that increasingly advanced systems could present serious risks if their development moves faster than the safeguards designed to control them.
Experts including Bilal Chughtai, Jacob Coxon and Evan Hubinger have raised concerns about the consequences that could emerge if highly capable AI systems are developed without adequate safety measures.
For technology expert Festus Edovia, however, the focus should remain on ensuring that AI works alongside people rather than making them economically irrelevant.
AI Should Assist Humans, Not Replace Them
Edovia said AI should be developed as a tool to assist humans and improve productivity.
Automation is already transforming customer service, data analysis, manufacturing and other industries. But he stressed that technological progress should not leave large numbers of people without meaningful opportunities.
He argued that governments, businesses and technology developers need to invest in education and retraining so workers can adapt as the nature of employment changes.
“The future should be a partnership between humans and machines, not a world where machines work while humans become jobless,” Edovia said.
The Need for Stronger Guardrails
Edovia also expressed concern about the speed at which AI is developing and the difficulty regulators face in keeping laws relevant.
“You could have regulation today, but how much evolution is required for you to make sure that regulation is relevant?” he asked.
Although AI offers significant benefits, he warned that those benefits should not overshadow the potential dangers.
“There are positive platforms you can leverage on,” Edovia said, but added that without proper guardrails, society may not be prepared for the consequences.
He also pointed to the vulnerability of countries that largely consume advanced technologies rather than developing them.
While the United States and China continue to invest heavily in AI and robotics, developing countries risk becoming dependent on technologies they did not create and may not fully understand.
For Nigeria, therefore, AI safety goes beyond controlling machines. It also involves ensuring that citizens understand how AI works, what information they provide to AI platforms and how their personal data may be used.
“There’s a lot of education that needs to be done in that regard,” Edovia said.
AI Is Meant to Help, Not Kill
Director of Public Prosecutions, Lagos State, Adebayo Haroun, believes AI should be viewed primarily as a tool for improving human productivity.
“I think AI has come to stay and we can take advantage of AI to improve on what we are doing in Nigeria and Lagos especially,” Haroun told Saturday Vanguard.
He said AI should not automatically be viewed as a technology designed to take away people’s jobs or responsibilities.
Rather, he believes it can help people find answers, solve difficult problems and access information outside their areas of expertise.
“So, AI for us is to help and not to kill,” Haroun said.
He urged Nigerians to focus on the productive uses of the technology instead of rejecting it because of its risks.
He added that the country should embrace the positive applications of AI and use them to improve existing systems rather than remain tied to older methods of doing things.
Technology Itself Is Neutral
AI expert and Executive Director of Women in Leadership Advancement Network, WLAN Global, Abosede George Ogan, also cautioned against treating technology itself as inherently dangerous.
“Technology, as we have seen, is neutral in itself, it is the use of technology,” she said.
According to her, AI learns from data, making it important for people to become better informed about how the technology works and how it should be used responsibly.
George Ogan also warned against allowing fears about catastrophic AI scenarios to overshadow the technology’s potential benefits.
The same technology that raises concerns about future risks, she noted, could also accelerate medical research, expand access to information, improve communication and create new opportunities for businesses and individuals.
She pointed to the ability of AI and digital technology to connect people across borders and allow consumers to access products and services from distant locations.
Ultimately, she argued, much depends on who uses AI, how it is used and what it is being used for.
The More Immediate Dangers Are Already Here
While researchers continue debating whether future superintelligent AI could pose an existential threat, Nigerians are already dealing with more immediate risks associated with the technology.
These include job displacement, deepfake fraud, cybercrime, misinformation, privacy violations and algorithmic discrimination.
A Nigerian report titled Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria: A Macro and Micro Economic Review warned that the country could remain dependent on foreign AI technologies unless it invests deliberately in local innovation, infrastructure and skilled talent.
According to Debola Ibiyode, Founder and Executive Director of AI Empowerment Foundation and Founder and CEO of CarbonAI, the study was conducted by OLGNova in collaboration with AI in Action Now.
The report stated that Nigeria is adopting AI faster than it is building the institutional, infrastructural and human foundations required to sustain and control that adoption.
It projected that automation could displace about nine million routine jobs by 2030, particularly in banking, clerical services and public administration.
At the same time, the review estimated that AI could help create about 11 million technology enabled jobs if Nigeria makes substantial investments in digital skills and workforce reskilling.
President of the National Association of Artificial Intelligence Practitioners, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, has similarly argued that Nigerians with the right skills can benefit from the changing employment landscape.
Speaking at the 2026 AI Awareness Day in Abuja, he compared the transition to earlier technological changes, such as the shift from typewriters to computers.
When Seeing Is No Longer Believing
For many Nigerians, one of the most immediate AI threats may not be a futuristic machine turning against humanity but the growing sophistication of digital deception.
Generative AI can now produce convincing voices, photographs and videos capable of making people appear to say or do things that never happened.
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission acknowledged the growing concern in February 2026 when it joined 60 other data protection authorities in a global statement addressing AI generated images and videos.
The regulators highlighted concerns including defamatory material, non consensual intimate images, cyberbullying and the exploitation of children. They also called for stronger safeguards, transparency and mechanisms that would allow victims to have harmful material removed quickly.
For the average Nigerian, the immediate danger could therefore be a cloned voice convincing a relative to transfer money, a fabricated video damaging someone’s reputation or synthetic misinformation spreading widely before the truth can catch up.
What Happens When Humans Give Machines Too Much Control?
Another growing concern is excessive dependence on AI systems.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in healthcare, banking, recruitment, security and public services, mistakes or biased decisions could have serious consequences.
What happens when an algorithm determines that a Nigerian should not receive a loan?
What happens when an automated recruitment system rejects a qualified applicant?
And what happens when an AI assisted medical system produces an incorrect diagnosis?
These possibilities underline the growing importance of AI literacy, accountability and human oversight.
Machines may assist with decisions, but allowing automated systems to operate without meaningful human supervision could create new problems of its own.
Nigeria Moves to Build AI Guardrails
Nigeria has already begun developing a framework for AI governance.
The National AI Strategy provides a roadmap for responsible AI development and adoption, while the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics is promoting indigenous research and innovation.
The Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 also provides protections relevant to the processing of personal information by AI systems.
In June 2026, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, outlined plans for a National AI Trust aimed at supporting responsible AI adoption, investment and innovation.
But the challenge remains significant because the technology is developing at extraordinary speed.
For Nigeria, the issue is not simply whether AI will one day become powerful enough to threaten humanity. Much more immediate questions concern jobs, personal data, cybersecurity, misinformation, fraud and the growing influence of automated systems on everyday decisions.
The country will need to strengthen regulation, accountability, public awareness and human oversight while continuing to harness AI for economic and social development.
The future of AI in Nigeria may ultimately depend not only on how powerful the technology becomes, but on how wisely people choose to build, regulate and use it.
