An urgent initiative for AI in Senegal (BY Oumar Ndiaye)

Our political leaders, our educational and research institutions, our private sector and civil society must quickly begin reflecting on several key issues that will determine our country's ability to benefit from AI:

1. Electricity and energy infrastructure

AI requires significant amounts of electricity to power data centers and computing infrastructure. Even the United States is facing increasing difficulties in meeting these energy needs. Senegal must develop a long-term strategy to significantly strengthen its electricity generation and distribution capacity to support an economy fully integrating AI.

2. Local Data and Inclusive AI

We must develop a national strategy for collecting, organizing, and making local data available for AI development, while ensuring respect for privacy, obtaining consent from individuals, and protecting data. This includes medical data, agricultural information, and telecommunications data, such as voice recordings collected with participants' consent. Used appropriately, these resources could help train AI systems capable of understanding our national languages and cultural realities. Imagine a future where someone living in a remote village can communicate in Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, or another national language with an AI-powered virtual medical assistant. Under medical supervision, such tools could significantly improve access to health information and support, particularly in underserved communities. AI must be inclusive and accessible to every Senegalese person, regardless of their language, education level, or place of residence.

3. GPU Infrastructure and National Computing Capacity

Graphics processing units (GPUs) and high-bandwidth memory required for the development and operation of advanced AI systems are becoming increasingly expensive and subject to severe supply constraints. As models grow more complex, access to computing infrastructure could become a major obstacle for developing countries. Senegal, for example, risks becoming entirely dependent on foreign suppliers for its AI computing needs. Given the limited financial resources of our universities, researchers, and technology companies, the government must play a leading role in creating national computing infrastructure for AI. This could take the form of shared GPU platforms accessible to universities, startups, and research organizations. We cannot afford to wait until these resources become financially inaccessible or difficult to obtain.

4. In-depth reform of the education system

Our education system must undergo profound change to prepare pupils and students for a world transformed by AI. It's not simply a matter of teaching them how to use ChatGPT. We must rethink curricula, teaching methods, vocational training, and the skills that tomorrow's workforce will need. Critical thinking, mathematics, computer science, AI understanding, creativity, and problem-solving must become cornerstones of our educational strategy. We must prepare our young people not only to use AI, but also to develop it, adapt it to our needs, and innovate with it.

5. AI and the coming revolution in medicine

Recent advances in AI for drug discovery, computational biology, and virtual cell simulation are opening up considerable possibilities for medical research. Technologies that can simulate the responses of human cells to drugs or other molecules could significantly accelerate the discovery of treatments for cancer, genetic diseases, and other major illnesses. Some researchers anticipate breakthroughs in the coming years that could profoundly transform medicine. While predictions that most human diseases could be cured before 2030 remain highly speculative, the pace of scientific progress warrants our full attention. Senegal must now consider how to participate in and benefit from these advances, rather than remaining a mere consumer of technologies developed elsewhere.

Oumar Ndiaye CEO ANTG Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +1-919-291-8742