Ghana’s RAIL lab: Where AI talent grows
2021, Prof. Jerry J. Kponyo and his team from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana started to tackle one of the greatest challenges for AI adoption in the subregion head-on: The skills gap in AI. Supported by IDRC’s AI4D initiative and the “FAIR Forward – Artificial Intelligence for All” initiative the Responsible AI Lab (RAIL) was created.
The lab fosters local AI talent and drives the development of afro-centric AI data and solutions for Ghana and the subregion. On top of that, the ambitions of the RAIL team did not stop there. They set off to become a leading voice on responsible AI from a Sub-Saharan African perspective.
RAIL’s holistic approach to spurring capacity building for responsible AI development
Within 3 years, the lab has become a leading AI Hub within Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa. As a key ingredient to its success RAIL acknowledges that „the future belongs to those who can find their way in the digital space” and that AI „is not just a man’s field and that women too can excel in it“ as Prof. Jerry J. Kponyo says.
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The challenge that women often face is the lack of exposure to AI. The RAIL Team addressed this through setting up Robotics Clubs in Girls’ Senior High Schools in Ghana (titled SHECodes).
Amina Salifu, a PhD student at KNUST and a scholar at the Responsible AI Lab (RAIL), shares how the RAIL initiative has impacted her academic journey and research:
By leveraging deep learning models, Amina aims to simplify the complex process of identifying Ghanaian English accents, laying the groundwork for advancements in speech recognition technologies tailored to local contexts. Reflecting on her experience, Amina deeply appreciates how RAIL has brought meaning and direction to her PhD work. Besides financial support, this especially includes participation in conferences, and access to expert feedback and reviews of her research.
The support RAIL provided even helped Amina to gain international recognition, winning awards at the Deep Learning Indaba in Senegal and the Ghana Data Science Summit (IndabaX Ghana) events.
Hands-on AI projects showcase impact
Aside from supporting the development of postgraduate programmes on AI in Ghana, RAIL has a strong focus on projects that produce tangible impact by using AI. Among the 8 hands-on AI solutions being developed and tested, one of the examples is the collection of an open-source Afrocentric dataset on diseases of common stable crops in Ghana, such as pepper, corn and tomatoes. Done in collaboration with the Ghanaian Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) a corresponding mobile and web application has been developed together with farmers to provide a simple, farmer-friendly AI solution that emphasizes the involvement of end-users throughout the development process.
Further committed to its mission to building capacity for AI, RAIL organized the “Ghana Disease Detection Challenge” on Zindi based on the crop disease data and with the support of the FAIR Forward initiative. Numerous aspiring AI engineers across the region received access to dataset to compete for the most efficient models for disease identification. The competition saw some 344 participants submitting disease identification models.
Into a bright future for the Responsible AI Lab
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo
At RAIL, we see ourselves as pioneers in shaping the future of responsible AI in Africa. This is just the beginning. Our vision is to continue empowering local talent, expanding our reach across the continent, and ensuring that the AI solutions we develop are ethical, inclusive and impactful.
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo
The footprint RAIL has formed over the last few years serves as a blueprint for expanding its reach and impact in the region. Already now, the lab supports the local and regional AI ecosystem as a leading voice for Responsible AI. Most likely, it´s success is to be seen in the continuing support by IDRC to expand KNUST’s RAIL and it´s two sister labs in Cape Verde and Senegal to 9 other African countries.
About:
The Responsible AI Lab (RAIL) is supported by “FAIR Forward – Artificial Intelligence for All”, a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
