Two Kenyan firms are among 21 globally selected to join the inaugural Google.org Generative AI Cohort and access more than $20 million (Sh2.6 billion) funding for their projects.
The two companies, Jacaranda Health and EIDU, will benefit from the six-month programme, which aims to support non-profit organisations that are developing high-impact applications of generative AI.
Google said the selected organisations will focus on areas such as climate, economic opportunity, health, education and crisis response. In addition to technical training, they will also receive pro bono support from workshops, mentors, and AI coaches.
“Generative AI can empower social impact teams to be more productive, creative and effective in serving their communities. We look forward to helping the chosen organisations harness the potential of this technology to tackle some of the continent’s most pressing challenges.” Dorothy Ooko, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Google, Africa, said.
Jacaranda Health is extending digital health services to underserved mothers using Natural Language Processing (NLP) trained in African languages.
Consequently, EIDU uses generative AI to provide personal tutors in low- and middle-income countries through tailored digital learning tasks.
This initiative programme also includes organisations from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
While AI technologies perform tasks in significantly shorter timescales, a survey found that almost half of those using them lack the tools, awareness, training and funding to implement them.
Businesses are looking to AI as a tool to help streamline operations, improve decision-making processes and mitigate risk, with the ultimate goal of providing a more personalised and efficient service to their customers.
However, there are concerns that some jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines due to the automation that comes with the adoption of this disruptive technology.
Some of the jobs that are at risk of being replaced include data entry clerks, travel agents, cashiers, and customer service.
