Call for AI, ML democratisation as conference gets underway

University students and researchers from across Africa on Tuesday convened in Nairobi for the start of the week-long, third edition of the AI and Machine Learning (ML) conference.

The event, which is hosted by the United States International University (USIU) in collaboration with Applied Machine Learning Days (AMLD) Africa aims to create awareness on the democratisation of AI as a way to enable Africa to leapfrog existing challenges and establish itself as a leader in sustainable development and tech innovation.

It seeks to underscore Africa’s dedication to owning AI developments of strategic projects in economic empowerment, culture preservation and healthcare sustainability.

The event has attracted students and researchers from  Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), KCA University, Mount Kenya University (MKU), the University of Nairobi (UON) and Zetech University.

The conference has also attracted online attendance, from across Africa, with participants from Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, and Uganda.

After hosting a community day on Monday, where regional AI communities showcased their innovations, the event has organised workshops and discussions that are planned to take place for the rest of the week.

They will involve discussions around understanding the disruptive impact of recent foundation models on drug discovery and medical access as well as discovering how AI can be used to improve maternal health or help in the fight against malaria.

They will also involve uncovering the potential of AI for preserving the diversity and richness of Africa’s heritage and discovering how African-led efforts have leveraged geospatial data to address pressing issues such as water scarcity, reliable weather forecasts and their implications in farming.

Speaking during the launch, USIU School of Science and Technology Dean Audrey Mbogho expressed her excitement stating that the conference creates the much-needed awareness and noise around AI and ML research, investment and innovation.

She added that there is, however, a gap when it comes to creating conversations between government and academia adding that they are not happening as they should.

“I should have known someone in government who I could talk to and be like, ‘Hey, we have partnered with AMLD Africa to host this event, please send a representative’,” Mbogho said.

“Those relationships need to be formed and nurtured so that government and academia can work hand in hand in supporting our Kenyan students who are choosing careers and actively innovating with AI and ML.”

She also said that as a country, there is a lot of excitement around the AI revolution affecting different sectors and we are not yet ready but rather, we are working towards being ready for the AI change.

Mbogho noted that through the conference, they expect to birth certain initiatives which include internships for students and the adoption of PhD and Masters research projects that are created with AI and ML in mind.

“The need for skill in AI, ML and Data Science skills in various sectors is there and with such a conference, it creates awareness on what is possible,” she said.

“Students sometimes are unaware of opportunities and jobs that are out there which in turn creates doubt among them when they want to pick courses to pursue because they do not know what they entail.”

Having launched a Bachelor of Science in Data Science course in 2022, Mbogho further noted that USIU has received a go-ahead from the Commission for University Education (CUE) to launch an online version of the programme.

“Our students need to see that AI and ML are part and parcel of our lives today and that they should embrace it. They also need to see that technology will ultimately do away with some jobs but will also create new jobs based on our intellect,” she said.

On his part, AMLD Africa president and co-founder Mohamed Ali Dhraief said the conference is a way to bring talks around democratising AI and ML.

He also said that the event was a channel to bring together worldwide experts to talk about the opportunities as well as highlight the challenges that Africa experiences around AI in healthcare, economic empowerment and cultural preservation.

Dhraief added that the decision to host the conference in Kenya was fueled by the growing AI community in the country.

“We are really excited about the traction that this conference has had here in Kenya and for us, we aim to create room for these conversations and bridge the gap between academia and industry experts making it easier for them to grow in their networks,” he said.

“Our other goal, of course, is to have three or four universities from different countries across Africa, come together to keep this conversation going.”

AMLD Africa content lead Kamil Seghrouchni said Africa is very intentional in positioning itself as a global top-notch player in the AI field but one key problem is the shortage of AI talent.

“It is only us who understand our problems and it is only us who can solve them,” he said.

“Our way of addressing this challenge is by inspiring the youth by making sure we train and connect the next generation of innovators to become the changemakers that our continent so direly needs.”

“The impact we hope to have at the end of the conference is to create an enlarged network of AI tech talent and by offering the conference for free, we also hope the students have an idea of career paths they would like to venture into.”