Turn to Africa to advance artificial intelligence

The artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the company as deeply as the steam engine and electricity have done. But unlike past technological revolutions, the AI ​​revolution offers a unique chance to improve lives without opening up and exacerbating global inequalities.

This will require the expansion of places where AI is practiced. The vast majority of experts are in North America, Europe and Asia. Africa, in particular, is barely represented. Such a lack of diversity can root unintended algorithmic biases and reinforce discrimination in AI products. And that's not the only gap: fewer African researchers and AI engineers mean fewer opportunities to use AI to improve the lives of Africans. The research community also lacks talented individuals just because they have not received the right education.

I am happy to return to Africa to change that. Next month, the Google Internet technology company will open an artificial intelligence research lab in Accra, Ghana, which will be the first of its kind on the continent and lead. We plan to employ many engineers and scientists.

About 15 years ago, I started undergraduate studies in mathematics and physics in my home country, Senegal, and I started teaching myself. even AI using courses downloaded from the Internet. I went to Paris to finish my postgraduate studies, and then I took a job in the Facebook AI research division, with the aim of making the machines' intelligence fair, transparent and more reliable.

Many obstacles prevent an African researcher specializing in AI from integrating into the global community. At a conference in Barcelona Spain in 2016, attended by more than 5,000 people, I was one of less than 10 black people. In response, I co-founded Black in AI. It's now a thriving community of more than 1,000 students, researchers and AI enthusiasts, ready to share ideas and foster collaboration to increase black representation. Despite this support, many of us still struggle to attend conferences. I have received papers at meetings, but I have not been able to attend because Western countries such as Australia have refused me a visa, whereas I have not been able to attend. I was already working and working professionally in Europe.

We must redouble our efforts to overcome these obstacles and ensure that the benefits of AI reach the world. Many of the essential ingredients are already present or in the process of being put in place. Human resources are there. Africa is home to the youngest and fastest growing population on the planet. I am 33 years old, which makes me older than most people on the continent (the average age in Africa is 19, in the European Union is 43). The enthusiasm is huge. Last year, Indaba's Deep Learning rallies across Africa hosted 300 students from 23 African countries and had to turn down more candidates than they could accept.

Financial resources are also becoming available. Last year, venture capitalists injected US $ 560 million into startups in the technology sector in Africa. Google assists and advises more than 60 people through Launchpad Accelerator Africa. According to the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, six of the ten counties with the fastest growing economies are in Africa.

There is strong support among AI researchers. Last month, the Master's program in Intelligent Machine Master in Africa, which I organized with sponsorship of Facebook and Google, started courses with 30 students. More than 30 international experts have agreed to come to teach at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Kigali, Rwanda. If the quality of a program is judged by the quality of the speakers, it is the best program in the world.

The next step is to develop a coordinated plan to encourage AI education across the continent, to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in the business sector. IA and to facilitate collaboration between AI researchers and experts in health care, agriculture and other sciences. We need a pan-African strategy: a set of ambitious goals in education, research and development, and industrialization of AI.

African countries need to build links with their local expertise in AI. Other countries, including China and France, have benefited from country-specific initiatives. Canada, in particular, has cultivated a good synergy between a strong community of researchers in artificial intelligence and a receptive political leadership. As a result, large technology companies all have centers in Montreal.

Another critical step is the establishment of a road map for mobilizing human and financial resources, including a pan-African AI fund to support coordinated efforts. A network of African institutes of artificial intelligence, for example, could retain the best talent on the continent, engage world-renowned African scientists to tackle AI problems in the world. African context and collaborate with existing academic institutions. The network could also help policymakers and collaborate with the private sector.

Finally, African governments must create a standard legal framework and set of values ​​that will help ensure that artificial intelligence in Africa serves the good of humankind. Around the world, the fear of a harmful use of AI is causing more and more concern. Fortunately, initiatives to prevent such uses are taking shape. In April, in the public sector, the European Commission presented an approach for defining ethical principles for AI. In the private sector, Google released this month a set of standards to govern its AI research and product development activities.

The time has come to lay the groundwork for AI to contribute to a better life in Africa and beyond. With foresight and planning, the technological revolution brought by AI will be a force to empower a just and prosperous society. The often neglected continent has a lot to offer and draw artificial intelligence.