One of the greatest benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to humankind is its influence on the medical field. "Powered by some of the most sophisticated technology, AI is assisting in improving medical diagnosis," says Anton Jacobs, managing director at African value-added technology distributor, Networks Unlimited. From an AI doctor and chatbot to AI's powerful applications, machine learning and deep learning, a world that used to be all about coding, is transitioning into using computer programming to assist in life-changing health issues such as early cancer detection. A massive advantage is that AI has the power to pool knowledge from the best specialists worldwide and provide it to patients anywhere geographically. "Imagine what this could mean to patients living in rural areas. They'd finally have the same access to knowledge as patients in top medical facilities," adds Jacobsz.

JOHANNESBURG - When the news broke last week of alleged accounting irregularities involving retail giant Steinhoff, its share price plummeted amid a flurry of investor fear and panic selling. According to Stuart Reid, the chief engineer at NMRQL Research, the warning signs were there but were ignored by many fund managers because of their inherent cognitive biases, highlighting the benefits of machine-learning-powered investing. "Most stock crashes are preceded by warning signals, but fund managers' inherent cognitive biases prevent them from seeing the wood for the trees," says Reid. This is why the algorithms behind the NMRQL SCI Balanced Fund, South Africa's first machine-learning-powered unit trust, administered by the Sanlam Collective Investments platform, were not invested in Steinhoff. "Our algorithms stopped picking Steinhoff in 2016," says Reid.

I was invited as a keynote speaker in Khartoum – Sudan on November 27 and November 28 2017 by Lutfi Self Development Centre (Lutfi SDC Sudan) It was big event in Khartoum and opening speech was done by Sudan central bank officials. It was amazing experience and lot of learning came out. The event was attended by MTN, Oracle, GSMA and many big names of the industry. I presented my topic of AI in FinTech focused on my area of advocacy on how AI is reinventing FinTech by disrupting and non disrupting methodologies. Bringing Artificial intelligence to make FinTech better, demystified and simple.

One of the greatest benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to humankind is its influence on the medical field. "Powered by some of the most sophisticated technology, AI is assisting in improving medical diagnosis," says Anton Jacobs, managing director at African value-added technology distributor, Networks Unlimited. From an AI doctor and chatbot to AI's powerful applications, machine learning and deep learning, a world that used to be all about coding, is transitioning into using computer programming to assist in life changing health issues such as early cancer detection. A massive advantage is that AI has the power to pool knowledge from the best specialists worldwide and provide it to patients anywhere geographically. "Imagine what this could mean to patients living in rural areas. They'd finally have the same access to knowledge as patients in top medical facilities," adds Jacobsz.

If 2017 left you breathless, exhausted by unexpected headlines, then brace yourself. The coming year may bring even more turbulent change, according to the CEOs, academics, economists and other bold thinkers we consulted for our annual peek at the year ahead.

Compared with the planet's other large tracts of tropical forests, the forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have remained relatively intact -- although that soon may be changing. Driven by factors such as shifting cultivation (slash-and-burn agriculture), fuelwood demand, logging, mining, infrastructure development, population growth and migration, rates of forest loss in the African country have doubled over the past 15 years. Based on an application of machine learning, the study focuses on a specific set of the DRC's most intact forested areas identified as containing critical biodiversity habitat; it predicts that without intervention, at least 820,884 acres of these critical forests could be lost by 2025. The collective size of this predicted forest loss -- an area the size of Luxembourg within a country the size of Western Europe -- may be small, yet millions of people rely on these forests for food, shelter and medicine. This underscores an urgent need to use this study to inform smart land-use decisions in the DRC. Within the DRC, our research focuses on the landscapes prioritized by the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded program implemented by WRI and other partners.

When Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was released this year, it gained a lot of attention - not because it is the latest instalment for a popular franchise, it stood out for another reason. The game was set in India, had two lead women, and one of them, Nadine Ross, is a black South African. Other big releases this year include Assassins Creed Origins, which is set in Egypt with an African protagonist, while Star Wars Battlefront II used the likeness and voice of Janina Gavankar, an actress with part-Indian heritage. But speaking to BBC Asian Network, Jo Twist, chief executive for Ukie, the trading body for the UK's games industry, said there was still a long way to go before video games could be truly representative of the gaming audience. She says there are not enough game designers from black or Asian backgrounds working and that this is reflected in what we are playing.

Robots will replace teachers by 2027. That's the bold claim that Anthony Seldon, a British education expert, made at the British Science Festival in September. Seldon may be the first to set such a specific deadline for the automation of education, but he's not the first to note technology's potential to replace human workers. Whether the "robots" take the form of artificially intelligent (AI) software programs or humanoid machines, research suggests that technology is poised to automate a huge proportion of jobs worldwide, disrupting the global economy and leaving millions unemployed. But just which jobs are on the chopping block is still a subject of debate.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is neither friend nor foe – It's both! This was the feedback received following a high level panel discussion held during the Science Forum South Africa (#SFSA2017) in Tshwane, were youth members from various African states exchanged their views and ideals as to how best they, business and government need to approach the digital age. "There is a paralysing fear that jobs will be taken away and humans will become redundant and lazy", said Barbara Glover of NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency. Glover added that these fears need to be allayed by understanding how best AI can unlock enhanced potential for humans to deploy their skills in new ways. Ama Duncan of Corporate Training Solutions in Ghana agreed.

To realise data's full potential, Deloitte Data Analytics is demystifying data science through impactful initiatives. In February 2018, the Deloitte School of Analytics will host its three-day annual education event, where they break down this data phenomenon and help clients use data science to drive their organisation forward. The annual education event is a three-day training programme that focuses on enhancing Analytics capabilities across Africa. Deloitte Analytics SMEs and TDWI lecturers will be engaging with the delegates through hands on and classroom based training, structured case study discussions, presentations and practical examples. The education journey will include modules such as Practical Application of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Data Architecting for the Future and Demystifying Data Science.