When QuickHelp Nigeria launched five years ago, only a few number of people were aware of the new AI age. But five years on, while there are numerous strides in the world’s adoption of AI to solve problems globally, and now in the middle of an AI global race, many Nigerians are still not aware of the implication of the new paradigm, especially as it influences educational systems, socio-cultural dynamics, healthcare, commerce, industrialization and even politics.
That is the inspiration for the launch of the Africa Leaps with AI (ALAI) initiative by the CEO and -Managing Director of SYL Multimedia, a Canadian-trained Information technology manager, Mr. Oluwatosin Odubela. The Africa Leaps with AI is a non-elitist approach to create more awareness about artificial intelligence. The initiative intends to provide concise and easy to understand training workshops that target the grassroots with news about the “Latest Trends and Boundless Possibilities in an AI age”.
Odubela, also a former ICT and Multimedia Head of the Centre for distance Learning, Obafemi Awolowo University, and the founder and lead developer at QuickHelp Nigeria, commenced the series of AI workshops to mark the 5th year anniversary of QuickHelp Nigeria, an AI powered personal emergency and directory service. At the launch, he remarked that “the workshop is necessary to help Nigerians and indeed Africa seize the moment to finally escape the hard grip of poverty, bad governance, illiteracy and crime”.
The AI workshops, according to Odubela, will provide information that will help participants distinguish between the theory, the facts and fiction about the new Artificial Intelligence age. Also being offered at the workshops are topics like practical ways to create wealth in an AI age and boosting one’s career with AI. The workshops also cover insights into acquiring new and relevant skills that will ensure career survival and success in an AI age, as well as traditional and modern tools for creating AI products.
The AI workshop, as organized by the company Strategies and Yields LTD, also provides new critical skills for business optimization, automation and control as well as safety guards and security hints in an AI age. At the workshops, participants will have opportunities for partnerships, collaboration and investment into viable AI Projects that are being undertaken by the company, notable among them being the BotBoards.
According to Odubela at launch of the workshop series, the BotBoards are Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered Smart Boards for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The boards are designed to augment the delivery of classroom instructions, support learners’ evaluation procedures and provide on-demand career counseling tips for learners under a collaborative learning environment.
“We conducted a funny experiment by asking ChatGPT a question: How can Africa become a super power? The responses are quite instructive, and I quote ‘Becoming a world superpower is a complex process that requires long-term planning and investment in various areas such as education, technology, infrastructure, healthcare, and government stability. To achieve this, Africa must focus on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, eradicating poverty, strengthening democratic institutions, improving healthcare access and outcomes, and enhancing education and literacy rates.’ This means that the focus should be on quality education that will produce people that will stay and solve our problems”.
“The workshop will continue, and we expect there will be copycats, but they have our blessings. We all need to rapidly get involved so that Africa does not miss out on the 4th Industrial revolution. This might be the last industrial revolution by humans” he said.
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