Nigerian Minister invites researchers to develop national AI strategy

Nigerian Minister invites researchers to develop national AI strategy

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has invited top researchers, both Nigerians and foreigners, who have experience working in the Nigerian market to conduct research for a national AI strategy. 

These experts are to conduct a study for a national Artificial Intelligence strategy.

The Minister of Communications of Nigeria, Bosun Tijani, extended the invitation to eminent researchers, both native Nigerians and those from other countries who have worked in the Nigerian market, to participate in the formulation of the national AI policy. 

The objective is to improve the landscape of technological innovation by embracing the observations and experiences of those who have engaged with the Nigerian market. The creation of a setting that fosters technological progress in a manner that is both more effective and more influential is the goal.

As part of this endeavour, a list of leading researchers of Nigerian ancestry from all over the world would be compiled for the purpose of developing a National artificial intelligence Strategy in collaboration. This strategy seeks to steer the proper development of artificial intelligence in Nigeria, with a primary emphasis on job creation, social inclusion, and sustainable development.

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The impact AI will make

The adoption of AI is viewed as essential for economic growth, and it has the potential to improve global GDP by trillions of dollars. Concerns with ethics, bias, privacy, and employment displacement are some of the issues that need to be addressed. Tijani emphasises the significance of taking a human-centered approach when developing an AI strategy in order to ensure that everyone can benefit from it and that it is inclusive.

The Nigerian National AI Strategy has a number of objectives in mind, some of which are the modernization of agriculture and healthcare, the expansion of access to financial services, the development of smart cities, the improvement of educational opportunities, the protection of the natural environment, increased government efficacy, and increased global competitiveness.

Data from Lens is utilised in conjunction with other machine learning models, such as Naive Bayes and Logistic Regression, in order to categorise potential AI researchers from Nigeria. This allows for the identification of leading AI researchers. A research index that is analogous to the h-index is being developed in order to methodically identify top researchers, and it is expected that crowdsourcing will be used in order to refine the researcher list.

Nigeria’s goal is to develop a complete AI policy that is in line with its national goals and encourages ethical and inclusive AI innovation. To achieve this, the country plans to collaborate with famous AI experts. The partnership hopes to establish Nigeria as a leading global participant in artificial intelligence research and development, which will be to the advantage of the country’s citizens and will encourage other partnerships on a global scale.

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The use of Artificial Intelligence

The development of artificial intelligence has made it feasible for robots to acquire knowledge via experience, adapt to novel inputs, and carry out activities normally performed by humans. Deep learning and natural language processing are two aspects of artificial intelligence that are becoming increasingly prevalent in real-world applications. 

Examples of artificial intelligence include everything from chess-playing computers to self-driving cars. By processing enormous amounts of data and identifying patterns within the data, computers may be taught to carry out a variety of jobs using these technologies. Computers can be educated to execute certain tasks.