Lost in Translation: How AI Forgot Africa
AI, supposed to be an oracle of inclusivity, has limited proficiency in African languages. For instance, it can only recognize 10 to 20 percent of sentences in Hausa, a language spoken by 94 million people in Nigeria.
That’s the linguistic equivalent of showing up to a family dinner and asking, “So… what’s your Wi-Fi password?”
Artificial intelligence relies heavily on data, similar to how coffee relies on caffeine. The lack of data on African languages has resulted in AI's limited understanding of these languages.
Scientists are working to improve AI's language capabilities, particularly in African languages like Hausa.
Author's Summary
AI has poor proficiency in African languages, but scientists are working to improve this.