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South Africa’s Wits University is set to unveil its first dedicated artificial intelligence institute this week to help drive the technology’s development across the continent. It comes amid growing concerns that AI may widen the existing digital divide between wealthy countries and poorer nations.
Known as the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, the program aims to publish impactful research, develop talent, and help to foster innovative applications of AI. Its remit includes informing policy-making on the governance and ethics of AI in Africa.
It is backed by an initial 60 million rand ($3.3 million) investment from Wits, with further funding expected from various technology companies it is in talks with. Wits is also working with other African universities to develop a pan-African MIND fellowship to launch in 2025.
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The institute will be inaugurated on Nov. 19, starting with a cohort of 34 research fellows selected in October. It aims to welcome academics from other African universities in 2025.
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The institute is looking to initially support at least 20 Masters, 20 PhD students, and 10 Post-Doctoral Fellowships.
Professor Benjamin Rosman will serve as the institute’s inaugural director. Rosman already runs the Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning (RAIL) Laboratory at the university’s school of computer science and applied mathematics.
According to Wits, the institute was first conceptualized in 2017 by Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, currently the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, the late Professor Barry Dwolatzky and Dr Solomon Assefa, who was at the time the research director at IBM Africa.
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Despite AI potentially being able to add $1.5 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2030, the digital skills gap and lack of an enabling policy environment in many areas is a major bottleneck.
A white paper by Microsoft on AI and the future of work highlighted the “essential” need to “cultivate African talent in AI research, innovation, and design, as well as policy and governance.”
The View From MOROCCO
Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in November deployed ChatGPT Edu, a version of ChatGPT tailored for universities, to support various educational and administrative functions. It claims to be the first university in Africa to do so.
The institution hopes AI will enable personalized learning for students, support faculty in grading and curriculum development, and aid researchers in data analysis and grant writing. As part of the institution’s collaboration with OpenAI, students and researchers will also have access to ChatGPT-4o personal accounts.
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