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Tag: AI

  • Nigeria to lead Africa in AI, blockchain technology – NITDA DG

    Nigeria to lead Africa in AI, blockchain technology – NITDA DG

    The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said that Nigeria would lead other African countries in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain technology.

    He said this would lead to the economic diversification of the continent.

    Inuwa made the assertion on Wednesday at the virtual Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition 2021 where he spoke on “Building a New Africa with AI and Blockchain.”

    He said that with the growing population of the continent and the dwindling oil revenue, especially in Nigeria, there was need to harness other areas to diversify the economy.

    According to him, emerging technology is one of these areas, and will play an important role in economic diversification.

    “Digital technologies are changing the world at a faster pace than previously experienced waves of technological innovation.

    “Nigeria needs to accelerate growth and modernise its economy through the development of a digital-led growth strategy for the Nigerian economy.

    “It is pertinent to note that despite the economic shocks from COVID-19 pandemic, most of the growth observed in the economies were those from viable digital economies.

    “Digital economy has been identified as an engine of growth, hence Nigeria can harness it as a driver of growth and innovation,” he said.

    The NITDA boss affirmed that the World Bank Group Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative supported the digital transformation strategy for Africa, prepared by the African Union (AU).

    He also pointed out that the DE4A initiative recognised that digital economy could help accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He recounted that recently a call to action was made with the unveiling of the “Economic Sustainability Plan 2020″ which sought to put technology at the forefront of driving development in Nigeria.

    Inuwa said the conference was a meeting point for professionals, practitioners, and policymakers to brainstorm on the best ways to harness these technologies to the advantage of the citizenry.

    “For Nigeria, a country in dire need to diversify its economy, digital economic activities are key for diversification because they transcend all aspect of human endeavours and the economic sector,” he said.

    He pointed out that at NITDA, the development and utilisation of emerging technologies was one of the strategic pillars for the 2021-2024 Roadmap and Action Plan of the agency.

    To drive that pillar, he said the agency was collaborating with relevant stakeholders and researchers to ensure AI, Blockchain, and other emerging technologies to support the economic diversification and sustainability plan for the country.

    He reiterated that the focus on the economic advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging emerging technologies, specifically AI, Blockchain, Internet of Things and 5G was highly commendable and apt.

    He urged stakeholders present at the event to make necessary partnerships and collaborations towards making Nigeria a leading knowledge and digital economy by 2030.

    The Keynote Speaker at the event, Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), encouraged Africa to take advantage of the unprecedented volume of data being generated on sentiment, behaviour, human health, commerce, communications, migration and more.

    “Adoption of AI solutions are expected to increase tremendously in the next few years and competition among major AI companies is expected to be intense.

    “In a recent report published by Markets and Markets (M&M), the global AI market size is projected to grow from 58.3 billion dollars in 2021 to 309.6 billion dollars by 2026.

    “It is a compound of enormous growth rate of 39.7 per cent during the forecast period,” Danbatta said.

    He explained that BlockChain was the foundation for crypto currency such as bitcoin; one of the newest technologies that had received extensive global attention in recent times.

    According to him, BlockChain served as an immutable measure which allowed transactions take place and its applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, refutation systems, Internet of Things (IoT), health, among others.

    Danbatta also said that robust and reliable broadband infrastructure and advanced technology, such as the 5th Generation Network (5G), were required to unleash the huge economic potential of AI and BlockChain in every country.

    He reiterated that African countries, including Nigeria, must be positioned to take advantage of the huge revenue in AI technologies, BlockChain especially, in the next five years to make way for a digital economy.

    AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions while Blockchain technology is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as the block, of the public in several databases, known as the chain.

  • ABU students win global Huawei Cloud, AI track competition

    ABU students win global Huawei Cloud, AI track competition

    Three students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, have won the global grand prize in cloud and artificial intelligence of the Huawei ICT Competition 2019-2020.

    Prof. Kabir Bala, the Vice Chancellor of the university, disclosed this during the 2019/2020 Huawei Nigeria ICT Competition Award and inauguration of the 2021/2022 Launch Ceremony in Zaria on Wednesday.

    Bala said the 2019/2020 Huawei competition had a participation record of almost 150,000 students from over 2,000 colleges and universities in more than 82 countries.

    “Six ABU students participated and three of them: Hamza Atabor, Emmanuel Abba and Hamza Beira, earned first prize in Network Track Globally.

    “Mustapha Jimoh, Dahir Muhammad-Dahir and Abdullahi Khalifa Muhammad earned grand prize in cloud and artificial intelligence at the global final,’’ he said.

    He noted that the relationship between ABU and the Huawei Technologies started in August 2018.

    The vice chancellor added that Huawei approached the university for a partnership on the Huawei authorised Information Network Academy (HAINA) and other CSR initiatives.

    “We are pleased with the outcomes recorded so far; under the ABU-HAINA programme over 1,000 enrollment and 450 different certification tracks have been recorded,’’ he said.

    Ms Melissa Chen, the Director, Service Delivery, Huawei Technologies Nigeria, said over 22,000 Nigerian students registered in the Huawei ICT Competition for 2019/2020.

    Chen, represented by Mr Star Shi, Assistant Director, Service Delivery, said 1,000 of these students competed in the national final in December 2019.

    Chen added that 15 students from ABU Zaria, University of Ibadan and University of Port Harcourt represented Nigeria in the regional final.

    “The team obtained good result at the regional final and they were given the privilege to represent their schools and Nigeria in the global final,’’ she said.

    Mr Igwe Keneth, Huawei, ICT Ecosystem Development Manager, said the company celebrated students from Nigeria who achieved excellent results in the 2020 Huawei ICT Competition.

    Keneth said two teams from Nigeria came out of the completion with grand prize; it was unprecedented in the competition history.

    “We came here today to give them the award and celebrate with them and also launch the 2021-2022 Huawei ICT Competition for students.

    “In the 2021-2022 competition there will be a cloud track, network track and innovation track where students will come with innovative ideas and present it during the competition,’’ Kenneth said.

    The manager said the Huawei ICT competition was initiated to cultivate ICT talents.

    He added that the competition provides the necessary platform for students to get knowledge and experience to build the talent for the ICT ecosystem.

  • Google names exec to oversee responsible AI research after staff unrest

    Google names exec to oversee responsible AI research after staff unrest

    Alphabet Inc’s Google on Thursday named Marian Croak, one of its few Black executives, to oversee research on responsible artificial intelligence (AI) after weeks of internal anger over its firing of a prominent Black scientist.

    Google confirmed Croak will manage 10 teams, including a dozen scientists studying the ethical considerations of automated technologies known as AI.

    Ethical AI co-lead Timnit Gebru said in December that Google abruptly fired her for contesting company orders.

    Employees for weeks have expressed concern that Gebru’s critiques of Google led to unfair punishment, and Croak has been among executives trying to broker a way forward between staff and management.

    Croak, a vice president of engineering who will report to Google AI chief Jeff Dean, told employees in a Thursday meeting that she respected Gebru and that what happened to her was unfortunate.

    In a video on Google’s blog, she also acknowledged dissent in the research areas now in her purview. “There’s quite a lot of conflict right now within the field, and it can be polarising at times, and what I’d like to do is just have people have the conversation in a more diplomatic way,” she said.

    Google employee Alex Hanna on Twitter called the news about Croak “a betrayal,” saying it occurred behind the Ethical AI team’s back and did not address demands the team made after Gebru’s firing.

    Gebru said in a statement, “Marian is a highly accomplished trailblazing scientist that I had admired and even confided in. It’s incredibly hurtful to see her legitimising what Jeff Dean and his subordinates have done to me and my team.”

    Croak, who previously was working on site reliability for Google, will also oversee teams doing research related to accessibility, social good and fairness in health algorithms.

  • Unilorin wins global Artificial Intelligence contest

    Unilorin wins global Artificial Intelligence contest

    University of Ilorin (Unilorin) has won the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) competition anchored by Scale Early, Rapidly and Securely (SERS) of Carleton University, Canada, the institution’s management announced in Ilorin.

    Reacting to the development on Tuesday, the Director of Academic Planning, Unilorin, Prof. Isaac Adimula, said a total of 36 universities from across the world, including six from Nigeria, selected from the nation’s six geopolitical zones, participated in the competition.

    “The contest followed seven weeks intensive training, which started on Oct. 2020,” he said.

    He listed the Unilorin team, to include Dr. Aye Ajiboye of Computer Engineering Department (Team Leader), Engr. Muniru Idris Oladele of Biomedical Engineering Department, and Engr. AbdulRaheem Yusuf of Computer Engineering Department, who presented a project on the use of AI in the reactivation of dead batteries.

    He stated that this led to the creation of a cleaner, healthier and prosperous environment.

    “The project was adjudged the best from all the entries in the Artificial Intelligence Stream category, received from across the world, and evaluated by an eight-member panel of reviewers,” he said.

    Adimula commended the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, for the financial support and encouragement given to the team, which led to victory.

    Prof. Tony Bailette, the Community Lead of SERS, Canada, who conveyed the news of the victory to the Unilorin team, appreciated their ingenuity, sophistication, and the hard work they invested in turning in their work.

    He described the accomplishment as ”a recognition of your talent and potential of the Artificial Intelligence opportunity that you are championing”.

    The SERS Community Lead encouraged Unilorin, and other contestants “to pursue this Artificial Intelligence opportunity and attain objectives that are good for the members and the community”.

  • Nigeria gets first Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Centre

    Nigeria gets first Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Centre

    Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, on Friday in Abuja, inaugurated the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

    The centre seeks to position the country for the Fourth Industrial Revolution that dwells on emerging technologies.

    The minister said at the inauguration that the establishment of the centre was in line with the eight pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Federal Government.

    He explained that the centre related to the seventh pillar of NDEPS, which is on Digital Society and Emerging Technologies.

    Pantami said also that emerging technologies included Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics, Cyber security, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Block chain, Big Data Analytics and Cloud Computing, among others.

    “Artificial Intelligence is the refinery of the digital economy and Robotics is very useful in supporting companies as they carry out repetitive tasks.

    “These are two very important emerging technologies that will shape the face of future technologies and we have decided to be proactive to enable us to play a key role in how these technologies evolve.

    “The Fourth Industrial Revolution, fuelled by Big Data, propelled by robust computing capacity, advanced software and Artificial Intelligence is ushering new ways of living, well-being, learning, travelling and working.

    “Its innovative use-cases are quickly changing lives for the better and creating new types of jobs,’’ Pantami said.

    Other pillars that reflected the vision of the centre, he said, were the third, fifth and eighth which focused on solid infrastructure, digital services development and promotion, indigenous content development and adoption respectively.

    Pantami said, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Artificial Intelligence would have huge impact on healthcare, automotive, financial services, retail and consumer, technology, communications and entertainment, manufacturing, energy, transport and logistics.

    According to him, all these translate into a significant global economic impact as cited by several sources and Nigeria must not be left out, hence, the call for immediate action.

    “It is predicted that by 2025, Artificial Intelligence will be a 190-billion-dollars business as 83 per cent of companies are also reported to state that it is their strategic priority for the future.

    “Artificial Intelligence has a significant impact in all sectors and has played a very important role in the fight against COVID-19.

    “There are 12 million robotic units worldwide in 2020 and this is expected to increase by 12 per cent by 2022,’’ he said.

    He, however, disagreed that the use of robotics could lead to loss of jobs and said that reports showed that deploying robotics led to the employment of about 150,000 people globally in engineering and assembly jobs.

    He also said there were already existing regulations such as the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation, the National Broadband Plan, the National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, among others to drive the activities of the centre.

    Pantami said the centre would serve as a leading hub of innovation, research and development, knowledge transfer, and training in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and other emerging technologies.

    “This centre will also serve the purpose of creating a vision for Artificial Intelligence in the country, identifying Artificial Intelligence-driven use-cases; support data stewardship and develop an Artificial Intelligence ecosystem, among others.

    He said it was equipped with a digital innovation laboratory, Maker Space and Fabrication laboratory, Printed Circuit Board Facilities, 3-D Printer, Co-working space for ICT start-ups and training facilities.

    He added that the centre would house the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (MIT-REAP) office set to translate research insights into practical frameworks.

    The U.S.A.-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a cutting edge institute globally renowned for science and technology feats.

    Pantami also expressed the hope that the centre would engage Nigerian youths, support economic diversification, create jobs and inspire digital entrepreneurship.

    He directed the National Information Development Agency (NITDA to file a monthly report on the activities of the centre till Dec. 2021 when it could be certified to perform independently.

    He called on the Ministry of Science and Technology for synergy in ensuring that the centre could be fully utilised to achieve the digital economy agenda of the Nigerian government.

    “I hereby challenge our innovators to utilise the centre and come up with revolutionary solutions to our local and global challenges.

    “We must move away from being consumers to producers because we have the potential and government is fully committed to supporting you,’’ he said.

    At the inauguration, the Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, explained Artificial Intelligence as the ability of machines to mimic human thinking and behaviour, which could be applied to the project of developing systems with human characteristics.

    He also said that robotics was the engineering discipline that dealt with the design, construction, and operation of robots, which complements human labour.

    “This project is one among many of our developmental programmes in accordance with NITDA’s core mandate of facilitating the growth of Information Communication Technology development in Nigeria.

    “We are focused on providing support for viable innovations with socio-economic impact as well as a level playing field for all Nigerians to thrive in.

    “As we enter the age of advanced technological breakthroughs such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Nigeria cannot be left out in harnessing the advantages of AI, robotics and other emerging technologies,’’ he said.

    He recalled the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report which said that AI had the potential to add to economic growth but the impact may be gradual and take sometimes to manifest.

    U.S.-based MGI helps leaders in the commercial, public, and social sectors to develop deeper understanding of the evolution of the global economy and to provide a fact base that contributes to decision making on critical management and policy issues.

    Inuwa said the report projected that while developed countries could add 20 per cent to 25 per cent net income to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), using AI, developing countries such as Nigeria could add 5 per cent to 15 per cent by deploying same.

    He said that the country’s GDP now stood at around 400 billion dollars, while AI technology could increase it by between 20 billion dollars and 60 billion dollars in 10 years.

    According to him, the centre inaugurated on Friday aims at achieving such unprecedented boost to the nation’s economy.

    He also said that the technology as predicted by World Economic Forum could create nearly 60 million jobs.

    He observed that AI and robotics were used across the globe in the care of COVID-19 patients and would be more relevant in ensuring that the spread of the virus was curtailed.

    “Be abreast with technological advancement or be left behind,’’ Inuwa quipped.

    He urged stakeholders to put the facility to optimum use to project the gains of AI and robotics in the Nigerian technological space.

    Mr Musa Bello, Minister of FCT, commended the transformation of the ICT sector by Pantami, adding that he was laying the foundation for digital growth of the country.

    According to Bello, this is the first centre of this nature owned by government and it opens up a space for the wider development of other sectors of the society.

    Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, Minister for State, Science and Technology, congratulated the agency and pledged to support it for the growth of governance.

  • Private 5G trial speeds up amid COVID-19 crisis

    Private 5G trial speeds up amid COVID-19 crisis

    Prediction for private 5G trials and pilots looks set to be exceeded even though 2020 deployments/launches of public 5G networks have been mixed because of the global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Deloitte had predicted in its Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions for the year 2020 that about a hundred private 5G tests would happen in the year.

    However, according to Deloitte, the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, work and learn from home, supply chain interruptions, and economic contraction/changes in consumer spending have affected the predictions.

    “Although 2020 deployments/launches of public 5G networks have been mixed because of the pandemic (faster in some countries, but delays in others), our prediction for private 5G trials and pilots looks like it will be exceeded.

    “We’re taking our prediction for private 5G tests from “over 100” for the year to “under 1000” based on many trials of private 5G solution just in Q1 of 2020 that we are aware of. It is difficult to say if the more rapid pace of private 5G trials is connected with the pandemic.

    “Testing a new technology while a factory is otherwise idle might make sense, and we have seen some private 5G trials in medical and logistics/distribution verticals, which could well have been accelerated by COVID-19 stresses,” Duncan Stewart, Director of Research of TMT for Deloitte wrote.

    TNG reports Deloitte as stressing that never before has the TMT Predictions been altered in the middle of the year, saying that would have felt like changing a wrong answer on an exam, but that there is a first time for everything.

    Deloitte also revised four other TMT Predictions for the year, including decline in smartphone sales, edge AI chip slow down, low Earth orbit going higher and CDN going even faster.

  • Doctored videos: Instagram head addresses ‘menace’ of deepfakes

    Doctored videos: Instagram head addresses ‘menace’ of deepfakes

    Instagram is working on a policy to address doctored videos, also known as deepfakes, Adam Mosseri, Head of the popular social media site has said in an interview with CBS on Tuesday.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports deepfakes use artificial intelligence technology to alter videos – and can go viral – of famous people so they appear as though they said something they did not.

    Recently, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a victim of a deepfake that was slowed down to make her appear drunk or impaired. The video went viral.

    Also, a deepfake video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg altered to show him bragging about controlling billions of people’s “stolen” personal data emerged.

    In the Zuckerberg’s video, he was manipulated to have said, “Imagine this for a second: One man, with total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures”.

    Mosseri said Instagram is working on a policy to address the menace, stressing “We are not going to make a one-off decision to take a piece of video down just because it’s of Mark and Mark happens to run this place. That would be really inappropriate and irresponsible”.

    He said, “We need to have defined principles and we need to be transparent about those principles. If a million people see a video like that in the first 24 hours or the first 48 hours, the damage is done.

    “The thing we are focused on right now, internally, is not if we take it down when we find it, but how do you find it more quickly. Once we can do that, then we can have the next debate about whether or not to take it down when we find it”.

    Mosseri said it’s an issue not only facing the company but something he struggles with on a personal level, too.

    “I don’t feel good about it,” he said.

  • Google establishes council for responsible AI development

    Google has established an Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) to complement its internal governance structure and processes that help implement it’s artificial intelligence (AI) principles.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports last June the internet giant announced Google’s AI Principles, an ethical charter to guide the responsible development and use of AI in its research and products.

    The council will consider some of Google’s most complex challenges that arise under its AI Principles, like facial recognition and fairness in machine learning, providing diverse perspectives to inform the work of the tech giant.

    “We look forward to engaging with ATEAC members regarding these important issues,” said Kent Walker, Google’s SVP, Global Affairs.

    TNG reports members of the inaugural Council are Alessandro Acquisti, Bubacarr Bah, De Kai, Dyan Gibbens, Joanna Bryson, Kay Coles James, Luciano Floridi, and William Joseph Burns.

    This inaugural founcil will serve over the course of 2019, holding four meetings starting in April.

    “We hope this effort will inform both our own work and the broader technology sector. In addition to encouraging members to share generalizable learnings in their ongoing activities, we plan to publish a report summarizing the discussions.

    “We recognize that responsible development of AI is a broad area with many stakeholders. In addition to consulting with the experts on ATEAC, we’ll continue to exchange ideas and gather feedback from partners and organizations around the world,” Kent said.

  • China overtaking US in AI

    China overtaking US in AI

    An analysis published on Wednesday showed that China is poised to overtake the United States in artificial intelligence with a surge in academic research on the key technology.

    The analysis by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence showed China has already surpassed the US in published papers on AI – although many of these were considered “medium-quality” or “low-quality.”

    But the researchers said China is likely to top the US in the most-cited 50 percent of papers this year, the most-cited 10 percent of papers next year, and in the top one percent by 2025.

    The findings highlight concerns in Washington and Silicon Valley that China is racing ahead of the US in key areas of technology such as autonomous vehicles, virtual reality and fifth-generation wireless networks.

    Allen Institute researchers Field Cady and Oren Etzioni said the surge in AI investment in China began more than a decade ago, well before the 2017 announcement by Beijing that it planned to become the world leader in the sector by 2030.

    “By most measures, China is overtaking the US not just in papers submitted and published, but also in the production of high-impact papers,” the researchers said in a blog post.

    They added that new US measures that tighten immigration could make it harder for the US to keep up.

    “Recent US actions that place obstacles to recruiting and retaining foreign students and scholars are likely to exacerbate the trend towards Chinese supremacy in AI research,” they wrote.

    US think tanks and researchers have recently called on Washington to develop a national AI strategy to encourage more work in the private and public sectors on the technology.

    Last month, President Donald Trump signed an American AI Initiative executive order calling for the administration to “devote the full resources of the federal government” to help fuel AI innovation, although analysts said it fell short of a comprehensive strategy.

     

  • Human, Harish Natarajan wins over AI debating system

    Human, Harish Natarajan wins over AI debating system

    Harish Natarajan has won over IBM’s six-year-old artificial intelligence (AI) debating system, affectionately dubbed “Miss Debater”.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the debate audience handed 31-year-old Natarajan victory over the AI debating system after a 25-minute rapid-fire exchange about pre-school subsidies.

    While the debating system, Miss Debater argued that subsidizing preschools isn’t just a matter of finance, but a moral and political duty to protect some of society’s most vulnerable children, Natarajan countered that, too often, subsidies function as politically motivated giveaways to the middle class.

    In 1996, IBM created a computer system that beat a chess grandmaster for the first time. In 2011, its Watson supercomputer defeated two record-winning “Jeopardy!” contestants.

    Also, Alphabet’s AlphaGo famously proved AI can master the ancient and intricate game of Go.

    But debating, which requires creativity and emotive elocution, has proven more elusive.

    Natarajan and the AI debating system event unfolded in front of hundreds of journalists, tech industry insiders and software engineers at IBM’s Think conference in downtown San Francisco.

    The topic was “We should subsidize preschools”.

    Natarajan holds the world record for most debate competition victories and has attended three world championships, winning the European tournament in 2012.