Kenya has trained 280 diplomats on the secure and ethical use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
The training, organised by the State Department for Foreign Affairs through its Directorate of Information and Communication Technology, in partnership with the Kenya Cybersecurity and Forensics Association and the Office of the Special Envoy on Technology, aimed to bridge the gap between GenAI’s benefits for diplomatic work and its associated risks.
The recently concluded Virtual Sensitisation Training on Cyber Hygiene and Responsible Use of GenAI also sought to modernise how diplomats use technology while protecting national interests and institutional integrity, as Kenya advances its technology diplomacy agenda
The diplomats were drawn from Kenya's embassies and missions worldwide.
Philip Thigo, special envoy on technology, said discussions covered cyber hygiene when using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Gemini and Grok, emphasising that diplomats must never enter sensitive information into public AI platforms.
"For diplomacy, generative AI can support research, drafting, translation, scenario analysis and communication," he said.
"It must, however, be used with discipline, judgement and institutional safeguards. Sensitive information, official positions and confidential diplomatic material should never be used on these platforms."
The training emphasised that while GenAI can improve efficiency, human judgement must remain central to diplomatic decision-making and sensitive information must be protected.
"As Kenya continues to strengthen technology diplomacy, building the capacity of our diplomats to use AI responsibly is now part of protecting national interest, institutional integrity and public trust," Thigo said.
GenAI uses existing data patterns to generate original, human-like content in response to user prompts, rather than simply analysing information like traditional AI systems.
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