Google’s first artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Africa was opened in Accra, Ghana in April, 2019. The tech giant aimed to support researchers with the tools and environment necessary to developing the AI products in solving numerous hurdles faced across the continent within the agriculture sector.
Google ’s new Artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory in Accra, Ghana was the novel of its kind to be built on the African soil. When people talk of Artificialf Intelligence, they always talk of it most likely being of scenes from science fiction movies, but in reality, it applies to everyday life from virtual assistants to language translation on Google.
The critical look inside Google’s new AI centre in Ghana since its inception has been impactful through the process of training young people in the country Ghana with internship opportunities among a host of them. The AI Centre also aimed at using the AI to improve health care – not just the health of human beings, but also that of plants. It also focused on collaborating with universities, which a few has been done – University of Ghana hosts Google AI at a symposium in 2019.
AI is, basically, the science of making machines appear intelligent, according to Google. It is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans in solving real-world obstacles.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence.
AI can be applied in sectors such as agriculture, health, and education, and Moustapha Cisse, the research scientist heading up Google’s AI efforts in Africa, stated that; his team’s main focus is to provide developers with the requisite solutions and research vital to developing products that can resolve issues that Africa faces today.
“Most of what we do in our research centers at Google and not just in Accra, we publish it and open-source code, so that everybody can use it to build all sorts of things,” he stated.
Dr. Moustapha Cisse is a co-founder of a number of AI and machine learning African groups including the BlackinAI10 group, which aims at enhancing black people involvement in AI via sharing ideas, collaborations and initiatives.
Although it came in a bit late as scheduled, the center is now functional and the company promises on the artificial intelligence technology to have an innovative impact in Africa.
Andy Oppong Dankyi 