'A goldmine at our fingertips': the promise and perils of AI in Africa

In South Africa, there are drones monitoring weeds; in Mauritius, there are computers crunching health data for better outcomes for patients; and in Nairobi, surveillance systems impose a modicum of order on the chaotic traffic. The bright new future of artificial intelligence in Africa is part of the bright new future of the continent as a whole, advocates say. "One thing is clear: Africans have a goldmine at our fingertips. A rapidly growing population of 1.4 billion people, 70% under the age of 30, combined with huge growth in AI investments, creates a potent recipe … We will not sit back and wait for the rest of the world to reap our rewards," wrote Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice-president of Ghana and head of the government's economic management team, in the Guardian earlier this year. Growing alarm about the threats posed by uncontrolled innovation in artificial intelligence has prompted global leaders to hold the first ever safety summit.