Artificial intelligence in Nigeria is still largely new, however, attempts by startups in the realization of the AI revolution in Nigeria have greatly increased. Some of the major breakthroughs in AI-powered technologies in Nigeria are as follows:
LEO, ADA AND SAMI
Leo is an AI-powered digital assistant introduced by the United Bank for Africa in Nigeria. It is a mobile banking chatting platform that is used for financial transactions such as paying bills, checking balances instant responses, football updates and other entertainments in different languages on the social media platforms in which they were already used to. ‘’Leo chat banker’’ is currently on Facebook and WhatsApp.
Ada also is a highly powered AI chatbot introduced by Diamond Bank (Now Access Bank) for online banking that provides a human-like form of interaction with customers.
Another artificial intelligence in Nigeria -powered digital assistant is the Stanbic IBTC Bank Chatbot, named Sami. It renders artificial intelligence-powered conversations and banking services to customers.
KUDI AI
Kudi AI put a human feel to online payments in Nigeria. Kudi is a word in Hausa which means “money” and is a financial application platform that is built with the help of artificial intelligence. It aids financial transactions like paying for utility bills, checking for account details and could also notify you when some of your bills are due. The high powered AI Chabot which is developed by Adeyinka Adewale and Pelumi Aboluwarin was launched since 2017.
AAJOH
Aajoh is one of the Nigerian startups in the Nigerian health sector. Simi Adejumo,Zuby Onwuta, Vikas Ramachndra, Ike llochonwu and charlse Ademola collectively came up with this application that uses artificial intelligence in diagnosing the medical condition of patients. Aajoh is been trained with symptoms of different health-related issues/ diseases, Aajoh could correctly predict a disease if fed with a new list of symptoms brought by new patients.
UBENWA
Ubenwa is an indigenous Igbo name which means “a baby’s cry” it is an amazing AI system that analyzes the frequency and amplitude patterns in newborn babies cry to dictate and predict whether the baby’s cry has symptoms of baby Asphyxia. Baby Asphyxia is the third highest killer of babies, especially during birth. It occurs mostly when a baby did not receive enough oxygen before, during or after birth. The founder of Ubenwa, Mr. Charlse Onu has finally given hope to newborn babies, the company Ubenwa is still currently conducting more trials at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Nigeria.
TOUCHABL
This is one of the greatest Visual or image recognition AI application software developed in Nigeria by Gaberiel Eze, Mohamed Farah, peter Chibunna and Chukwuemeka Ihedoro. This Touchable application gives its users more information on the pictures of things they see on the app, by just touching on any picture of interest on the app. When the picture of interest is touched by the user, the touchable app provides predictive information about what is been touched, like the color of cloth, the name of the cloth and the possible price of that cloth. This application has been highly welcomed by the Nigerian fashion industry.
LARA .NG
Lara.ng is a powerful artificial intelligence system that assists her users to get from one place to another via step by step description of direction as well as predicting an estimated amount of transport fare at each point of your journey. Co-founded by Sam Odeloye,Nnamdi Nwanze and Ladi Ojora, lara was designed by collecting, sorting and systematically arranging transport-related data.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN NIGERIA AND CHALLENGES
DATA PROBLEM: AI requires a lot of data to train the machine. However, in Nigeria, data is not easily accessible or non-existing. Also, the refusal to give relevant and accurate data on situational studies is widespread.
LOW AI SKILL: Base on the information available, universities offering artificial intelligence in Nigeria are unknown. Getting people who are skilled in this area is always difficult, however, we must appreciate the efforts of innovation-driven organizations such as Data Science Nigeria, Datalab Nigeria, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria(R.A.I.N), etc., who are in the front banner of giving Africans and Nigerians who are really interested in getting the skills the opportunity to get trained.
Artificial intelligence in Nigeria has present more opportunities for both young and old Nigerians; it is a virgin land of opportunities filled with opportunities in finance, healthcare, agriculture, education etc. So when you want to quit your ideal of diving into AI just remember that it’s the highest paying in the world and the sexiest job also.
where can I learn artificial intelligence in Nigeria? Check out DataLab Nigeria
– By Igbadoo Collins M. (Biostatistician & Data science Intern at DataLab Nigeria, Abuja)
