In Nigeria, while AI is still in its infant stages, there is a growing recognition of its potential to address local challenges and drive economic development.

This shift in mindset is crucial for harnessing the capabilities inherent in AI to cater to the unique needs of the Nigerian and African context in extension. AI literacy is essential for ensuring that individuals and communities can effectively engage with and benefit from AI technologies.

However, in a continent where over 860 million people lack internet access, the disparity in digital literacy becomes even more pronounced as AI is being built and governed by a privileged small chunk of the global population, while a great number of communities remain uninvolved in shaping technologies that affect their lives.

This gap not only limits access to information but also hinders the ability of marginalised populations—especially women, rural dwellers, and indigenous language speakers to participate in an increasingly digital economy.

Without foundational digital skills, this critical demography will remain excluded from the AI revolution. A comprehensive approach to AI literacy must encompass both technical skills and socio-emotional competencies.

This multidimensional framework is vital for preparing individuals to navigate the complexities of AI, ensuring they can leverage its benefits while also understanding its ethical implications.

Global initiatives, such as those discussed by the World Economic Forum, emphasise the need for inclusive strategies that extend beyond mere technical training to address the broader socio-economic landscape.

Localisation of AI is also critical to ensuring that technology resonates with and addresses the specific needs of African communities. This involves not only adapting technology to local languages and contexts but also ensuring that the datasets used to train large-scale models such as large language models (LLMs), generative tools, or frontier models is representative of diverse local populations. In Nigeria, where numerous languages and cultural practices exist, it is imperative that AI solutions are developed with local input to foster trust and usability.

In this regard, there is a need for inclusive governance frameworks which will ensure that all voices are represented in AI discussions. Stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and tech companies must collaborate to create an environment where everyone can contribute to and benefit from AI initiatives.

This includes addressing gender disparities, rural-urban divides, and providing access to resources for all demographics.

Moreover, initiatives like the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) are important for strengthening a robust AI ecosystem.

These initiatives support local research, innovation, and the development of AI applications tailored to Nigeria’s unique challenges in critical sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare and so on.

Notably, the current skills gap in AI poses a significant challenge to its adoption across Africa. With many professionals leaving the continent for opportunities abroad, there is a pressing need to cultivate local talent.

Stakeholders should prioritise the establishment of standardised metrics and frameworks for measuring digital literacy to help identify skill gaps and track progress, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Programmes aimed at upskilling the workforce, such as the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, and Microsoft’s commitment to training two million professionals by 2025, are steps in the right direction.

However, these efforts must be complemented by broader educational reforms that integrate AI literacy into curricula at all levels to ensure that future generations are adequately equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in a digital economy.

The future of AI in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, holds immense promise. However, achieving this potential requires a concerted effort to enhance AI literacy and localise technologies.

When inclusive education and local talent is prioritised, there is a high guarantee that the benefits of AI are accessible to all, leaving no one behind.

Therefore, as we advance into this new digital age, it is our collective responsibility to shape a future where AI serves as a tool for empowerment and equality, rather than a source of division.

*Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi is the CEO MyAIFactChecker and Founder of FactCheck SAfrica. He tweets via @opegoogle and available via abideenolasupo@gmail.com

Picture a world where misinformation is quickly and accurately addressed, ensuring that the public has access to reliable information.

These visions are becoming a reality thanks to Meta’s groundbreaking Llama technology and the innovators harnessing its power to drive change in Africa.

Recent breakthroughs in AI, and generative AI in particular, have captured the public’s imagination and demonstrated what those developing these technologies have long known — they have the potential to help people do incredible things, create a new era of economic and social opportunities, and give individuals, creators, and businesses new ways to express themselves and connect with people.

As part of Meta’s commitment to open science, the company announced the release of Llama (Large Language Model Meta AI) in February 2023, a cutting-edge foundational large language model designed to advance research in AI.

Like other large language models, Llama works by taking a sequence of words as input and predicting the next word to recursively generate text.

Following this initial release, Meta introduced Llama 2, Llama 3, Llama 3.1 and the most recent iteration, Llama 3.2.

Over the past few years, Meta’s Llama models have demonstrated new capabilities, including generating creative text, solving mathematical theorems, predicting protein structures and answering reading comprehension questions.

The two largest models of the Llama 3.2 collection, 11B and 90B, support image reasoning use cases, such as document-level understanding including charts and graphs, captioning of images, and visual grounding tasks such as directionally pinpointing objects in images based on natural language descriptions.

The lightweight 1B and 3B models are also highly capable with multilingual text generation and tool calling abilities.

With more than 400 million downloads, companies are using Llama to create localised educational content, summarise video calls, and provide medical information in low-resource settings.

These projects highlight the significant potential AI has to benefit billions of people worldwide.

As technology continues to evolve, innovative minds across Africa are leveraging its power to address pressing social challenges and drive meaningful change.

Two such innovators, Dr. Olubayo (Bayo) Adekanmbi and Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi, are at the forefront of this movement, using Meta’s Llama technology to create solutions that have the potential to transform lives in health, education, finance and digital governance.

Dr. Olubayo (Bayo) Adekanmbi: Leveraging Llama 2 for Social Good

Olubayo Adekanmbi, the CEO of Data Science Nigeria (now known as equalyzAI), is a leading figure in AI research and development.

He’s passionate about using AI to empower individuals and bridge the digital divide. EqualyzAI is building a unique hyperlocal multimodal dataset, models and APIs that unlock the potential of generative AI for native dialect speakers in Africa.

They focus on creating Large Language Models (LLMs) for African languages that can be fine-tuned in response to specific health, finance, agriculture and education needs.

One such innovation is a personalised learning platform, ULearn, built with Llama 2. This platform allows students, teachers and even parents to generate multimedia learning content for elementary science that caters to students’ individual needs, enhancing their learning experience and engagement. Imagine personalised lesson plans, flashcards and animated videos tailored to the needs of every student!

This revolutionary approach transforms education from a one-size-fits-all model to a personalised learning journey.

Additionally, equalyzAI empowers market women with financial literacy tools, fostering economic growth and community stability. Their AI-driven healthcare solutions also improve accessibility and coverage, especially in underserved regions.

Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi: Revolutionising Fact-Checking with Llama 3

Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi, a youth leader and researcher, is dedicated to leveraging technology for social good.

His focus is on the transformative potential of digital governance in driving positive social change. Olasupo has developed various civic tech products to enhance public engagement and digital governance.

Among them is MyAIFactChecker, which tackles the critical issue of misinformation by providing accurate and user-friendly fact-checking capabilities.

MyAIFactChecker Fact-checks Information in Three Main Nigerian Languages in 30 Seconds

MyAIFactChecker leverages Llama 3’s advanced capabilities to address the misinformation problem effectively.

Llama 3’s state-of-the-art contextual understanding and generative AI capabilities enhance the accuracy and relevance of fact-checking.

This user-friendly platform, MyAIFactChecker, supports multiple languages, including French, Swahili and Nigerian local languages, offering a truly inclusive user experience. This multilingual capability, combined with the voice option for fact-checking, breaks down language barriers and offers a more inclusive user experience.

One of the primary impacts of MyAIFactChecker is its ability to rapidly and accurately assess the validity of claims. Traditional fact-checking methods often struggle with the sheer volume of information and can be slow to respond.

By utilising Llama 3 and advanced search APIs, MyAIFactChecker automates the process, allowing for real-time analysis of claims against a broad range of sources.

These models’ advanced contextual understanding and generative capabilities enable the platform to deliver nuanced, detailed responses that go beyond simple true/false evaluations.

This results in more accurate and informative fact-checking that reflects the complexities of the claims.

Olubayo Adekanmbi and Olasupo Abideen are leading the charge in using AI for social good, demonstrating how Meta’s Llama technology can be harnessed to address critical challenges in education, healthcare and misinformation.

Their work not only showcases the transformative potential of AI but also underscores the importance of innovative approaches to solving some of the most pressing issues facing Africa today.

Through their efforts, they are paving the way for a future where technology serves as a powerful catalyst for positive societal change.

The three languages are; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, the new innovation also provide access for Africans to fact-check in formation in Swahili, Arabic and French.

He disclosed this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Thursday.

According to him, the solution provided is not fixated on checking information alone, but also keen on democratizing avenue for people to fact check information.

‘MyAIFactChecker’ Africa’s first artificial intelligence, AI-powered fact-checking platform,  to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation on the continent is a  “brainchild” of FactCheckAfrica.

Speaking further, Abidden said, what has now become a ground breaking innovation, started off  two years,  when his organization spotted  challenges associated with disinformation in all it varieties  in Nigeria and by extension Africa and decided to provide solution in that respect.

“Precisely two years ago, we started the FactCheck Africa, due to burgeoning  burden to  tackle all attendants challenges with disinformation in all it varieties. We realized that we have a older generation, who does not really know much about all these things because they are not online.

“So we went to the grassroots to educate people about information, fake news and all that.  As  a result of our grassroots experience and pilot study, we discover that AI a veritable tool  to enable people to learn.

“Thus, over the last one year we worked on the AI chat button to make things easier for Nigeria within 30 seconds to factcheck any information. We are not fixated on checking information alone, but we are keen on democratizing avenue for people to fact check information.

He noted that, “even if you are not able to type, there is a voice message that makes it easier for you to fact check, it comprises major languages in Nigeria; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, then in Africa Swahili, Arabic and French.

“Aside from the fact that you can fact check any information of your choice on it, there is chat-box that makes it interactive, giving it a human face. there is also a feedback mechanisms to rate if you are satisfy or if you are not  satisfy, that gives us an idea that when we are launching the second version of the  the App, it would have been updated with lot of feedback gleaned from people who have interacted with the first phase.

“MyAIFactChecker is a demonstration of our organisation’s unwavering commitment to combating the scourge of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, thereby safeguarding the integrity of information. This platform leverages cutting-edge AI technology, is user-friendly, and allows you to verify the authenticity of news, social media posts, and other online content quickly and conveniently.”

The innovative platform would provide users with a range of functionalities, including a chatbot interface, feedback mechanism, and voice search capability that is available in English, Swahili, French, Arabic, and several popular local languages in Nigeria.

Earlier in the week, and specifically in the course of the launching  of MyAIFactChecker, Abideen said it  comes at a critical time, as the proliferation of disinformation and harmful content continues to pose significant threats to the integrity of elections, democracy, public health, and stability in African nations.

The BBDYI global director, who said the impact of fake news and disinformation on elections could not be waived, expressed optimism that his organisation’s newly introduced AI fact-checking would help combat the spread of disinformation in African nations preparing to hold elections this year.

Olasupo, who was a key note speaker at the 2024 United Nations ECOSOC Youth Forum held in New York last week, where he spoke on ‘The ethical use of AI and its implications for education in Africa’, said his organisation would continue to push for policies around ethical use of AI in Nigeria and Africa as a whole to maximise its benefits and mitigate its risks.

He however, lauded Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, for spearheading the initiative to deliver a comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the country, stressing that such endeavour was crucial in positioning Nigeria to effectively leverage AI for national development.

“In recognition of the immense potential of AI in addressing societal challenges, BBYDI will continue to advocate for policies and ethical frameworks to guide the deployment of AI technologies across Africa. It is imperative that we harness the power of AI for the collective good of our society,” he said, about MyAIFactChecker.