The inaugural meetup for Africans in AI happened last week in London . Here’s how it went.

Technology is fast paced. Artificial intelligence is becoming more integrated with services offered on a daily basis. Many interact with AI without even knowing it.

But what does this hold for the continent that has been the symbol of backwardness?

The Africans in AI Meetup seeks to connect Africans in the diaspora, who are actively involved in AI or who are sufficiently interested. The group will hold sessions that will feature workshops on using AI techniques and Africa-specific datasets to attempt to solve problems relating to the continent. Apart from these, members will benefit from information about opportunities e.g scholarships and internships that will be circulated within the group.

The inaugural event had Ayodeji Akinwowo, PhD, speaking about the importance of the involvement of Africans in the field of AI. Ayodeji works as a Data Scientist at Elasta Cloud. His speech highlighted areas in Africa where AI can be readily applied, as well as examples of companies already doing so.

One of the concerns raised by attendees was the availability of datasets to be used to solve the problems faced by the continent. This seemed to be a big issue as data collection is not fully incorporated by companies and service providers.

Another issue raised was the cultural pattern of handing out contracts to ‘foreigners’ who are deemed more competent than local practitioners. Sadly, this challenge can only be eliminated when Africans ‘prove’ themselves as competent. Therefore, many Africans bear the burden of having to prove themselves within and outside the continent.

During the lightning talks, Mr Jagboro, co-founder and CTO of Dressup.AI spoke briefly about his work on applying machine learning to style recommendations for traditional African attires. Interestingly, he also mentioned that dataset creation has been the most challenging part of his work.

In all the event was an excellent opportunity to network with like-minded Africans. We were impressed by the turn out (12 men and 5 women — more women please!!) given that the event was announced in a short notice .We are excited by the future meetups we have lined up and invite anyone with an interest in Africa and AI to join us.

Find meetup announcements at https://www.meetup.com/Africans-In-AI. Then:

Join our Facebook group ,

Like our Facebook Page

and

Follow us on twitter @africans_ai

Thank you!

A big thank you to James Governor of RedMonk, who is a huge supporter of diversity and inclusion (check out this link for proof), for his help in securing a venue for this meetup. Also, a shout out to Edspace for opening their doors to the Meetup group. Thank you to all who showed up for the meetup. Stay in touch!

P.S. If you would like to get involved with the Meetup in any way contact us via social media or email at africansinai@gmail.com