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Google Takes On African’s Challenges In Ghana

An artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory opened by Google in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa, would take on challenges across the continent, researchers said.

The US technology giant said the lab in the capital, Accra ,Ghana, would address economic, political and environmental issues.

Africa has many challenges where the use of AI could be beneficial, sometimes even more than in other places, Google’s head of AI Accra Ghana, Moustapha Cisse, told reporters at the center’s official opening this week.

Similar research centers have already opened in cities around the world, including Tokyo; Zurich, Switzerland; New York; and Paris.

The new lab would use AI to develop solutions in healthcare, education and agriculture  such as helping to diagnose certain types of crop disease, Cisse said.

Cisse, an expert from Senegal, said that he hoped specialist engineers and AI researchers would collaborate with local organizations and policymakers.

Google is working with universities and start-ups in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to enhance AI development regionally, he said.

We just need to ensure that the right education and opportunities are in place, he said. That is why Google is sponsoring a lot of these young people for their degrees … to help develop a new generation of AI developers.

Other tech companies, including Facebook Inc, have launched initiatives in Africa and demographics are a key factor behind the drive.

Africa’s population is estimated to be 1.2 billion, 60 percent of them younger than 24.

By 2050, the UN estimates the population will double to 2.4 billion.

As online social networks expand, that presents a huge market for US tech giants to tap into.

There’s a clear opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to really go in and put a pole in the sand, said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights in New York.

If you look at Netflix [Inc], Amazon[.com Inc], Facebook, Apple [Inc], where is a lot of that growth coming from It’s international, he told reporters in a recent interview.

Source:News Now.