Africa is quickly becoming a center for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), with people across the continent executing this technology to deal with specific local problems. From expanding access to healthcare services to improving education delivery, African AI practitioners are providing tailor made services that promise catalogue transformational change in development across the southern hemisphere.
Locally Sourced Solutions
Organizations such as Data Science Nigeria and Data Science Africa are on the forefront in the campaign of developing indigenous AI skills. These clubs, conferences and ‘schools’ facilitate the mass production of African data scientists and other disciplines related to AI. The emphasis is on tackling issues using locally generated solutions as opposed to exporting foreign concepts into the continent.
Such focus on local knowledge is important for many reasons. Olubayo Adekanmbi founder of Data Science Nigeria puts it more succinctly, “We have the talents and the raw data sets to leverage the power of AI to improve the quality of lives of people who need it most”.
Thanks to contextual understanding of the problems typically encountered in African societies, the local AIs will be quicker to solve the problems and better adapt to the local culture.
Innovative Approaches for African Problems
As seen, African AI researchers are active in solving numerous problems where healthcare and education become the major areas of use:
- Healthcare: For example, at the Makerere University in Uganda, researchers have built a mobile app named Ocular which helps in the diagnosis of diseases such as cervical cancer, malaria, and tuberculosis using a smartphone, where a microscope camera is used. This could be a breakthrough where there are very few pathologists available.
- Education: In Tanzania, prediction of student dropout was made possible through machine learning model, enabling timely action to support children at risk of dropping out of school.
- Drug Development: AI in Drug targets optimization is practiced at the University of cape town where drug dosage for the African population takes into account the genetic background, a factor that is exceedingly ignored in drug development.
These initiatives showcase how AI has the potential to solve the problems of African communities in a new context, circumventing the normal developmental processes.
Meeting Challenges and Designing the Road Ahead
One of the aspects of development is good but hitches loom especially for Africa’s AI explosion. Thin infrastructure, unreliable power and internet can stall the development and application of AI. In response many African researchers are working with partners from the north incorporating practical skills and sophisticated computers.
African computer scientists are also participating in the formulation of AI policies and guidelines. The intention is to come up with structures that guarantee safety, especially during innovation. As said by the Science for Africa Foundation U. Alam, AI might even reach a higher utility in policy… making, by forecasting trends and accumulating evidence.
As Africa is making progresses in the AI space, the continent has a special position to help chart the course of AI technology. By addressing local problems and utilizing local talent, African scientists are more than just contributors into the global artificial intelligence drive, they are changing the narrative in fascinating ways.
