I had the privilege of taking part in the Twilight programme on CRTV News, on the theme: “Artificial intelligence: between benefits and setbacks, is Cameroon ready?”
As my first live appearance on national television, it was both an enriching and inspiring experience. Of the messages I wanted to share, two seem essential to me.
1. “Tropicalising” artificial intelligence
Cameroon must not be a mere consumer of AI solutions designed elsewhere. These tools were built for other contexts, other languages and other data: we need to adapt them to our local realities.
As Armand Claude ABANDA often points out, it is essential to “tropicalise artificial intelligence”.
2. Ethical and responsible AI
AI must also be developed and used ethically and responsibly, with respect for:
- privacy;
- fairness;
- transparency;
- the public interest.
An opportunity to build in our own image
AI is a tremendous opportunity for Africa, provided we build it in our own image and in service of our priorities.
Thank you to CRTV for the invitation, to Nadia Amana for her excellent moderation, and to Mounir Nji (Hamoji), Yves Bertrand Solanga and Danielle Stéphanie MENGUE epse BANDOLO for such rich discussions.
And you: what do you see as the main challenge in making AI a real driver of development in Cameroon?