November 15th (AMSP/CGTN) – – The much-anticipated African Tech Festival and AI Summit has concluded in Cape Town, South Africa. The gathering brought together global leaders, innovators, and tech enthusiasts to explore the potential of artificial intelligence in revolutionizing industries and reshaping Africa’s future.
The Cape Town Tech Festival was abuzz with activity as delegates from around the world gathered to interact and collaborate on how to move the continent forward.
” For the past year, we’ve seen a lot of momentum in both the enterprise and the SME space of adoption, experimentation and just generally a lot of excitement. For all of the conferences that we have been in the past two years, AI has become front and center, not just for the AI summit, but in other type of conferences, ” Melio AI Founder and CEO Merelda Wu said.
Smartphones have driven digital access and put artificial intelligence at the fingertips of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa, which have become important tools of trade for Africa.
” So to give you an example, if we had a dashboard view of, you know, real time produce that was being exchanged across the continent, like let’s even start with one grain as an example, right? And we tracked that across 56 countries in real time. That in itself will start to help us understand who’s in deficit and who’s in surplus,” Lavina Ramkissoon, Advisor in AI Advancement at the African Union, told CGTN’s Julie Scheier in Cape Town.
AI has the unique ability to boost economic growth and address challenges in sectors such as healthcare and education.
For his part, Shivad Singh, CEO of Headstart, indicated that Headstart is an education company. ” Our purpose is to ensure that learners in developing countries, see world class education that is accessible and affordable. So how we started was we actually got exclusive licenses from the leading education companies to bring to the African market. We now developed our own education platform and we launched it with MTN, which is the biggest telco in Africa, ” he pointed out.
Fears around privacy and security still remain a concern as companies and individuals become increasingly vulnerable to online scammers, especially when it comes to AI.
“I think we should equally be very scared and very excited. I think that like any interesting tool, I think the advent of any new tool in the technology and the many pros and then potentially many pitfalls. And I think we need very strong guidelines about the appropriate use and ethical use of AI, which will then govern what we can and cannot do, ” IDFC Group Chief Information Officer Khetha Cele, expressed his thought.
Today’s technology can transform industries and societies from AI to digital solutions. The potential for growth is immense. However, ensuring this progress benefits everyone requires a focus on using technology to solve real world problems and bridge the digital divide.
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