In today’s world, technology is not just a tool; it’s a bridge to opportunities, knowledge and change. Imagine a classroom where every student’s learning experience is tailored to their unique needs.
Picture a world where misinformation is quickly and accurately addressed, ensuring that the public has access to reliable information. These visions are becoming a reality thanks to Meta’s groundbreaking Llama technology and the innovators harnessing its power to drive change in Africa.
Recent breakthroughs in AI, and generative AI in particular, have captured the public’s imagination and demonstrated what those developing these technologies have long known, they have the potential to help people do incredible things, create a new era of economic and social opportunities, and give individuals, creators, and businesses new ways to express themselves and connect with people.
As part of Meta’s commitment to open science, the company announced the release of Llama (Large Language Model Meta AI) in February 2023, a cutting-edge foundational large language model designed to advance research in AI.
Like other large language models, Llama works by taking a sequence of words as input and predicting the next word to recursively generate text. Following this initial release, Meta introduced Llama 2, Llama 3, Llama 3.1 and the most recent iteration, Llama 3.2.
As technology continues to evolve, innovative minds across Africa are leveraging its power to address pressing social challenges and drive meaningful change. Two such innovators, Dr. Olubayo (Bayo) Adekanmbi and Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi, are at the forefront of this movement, using Meta’s Llama technology to create solutions that have the potential to transform lives in health, education, finance and digital governance.
Dr. Olubayo (Bayo) Adekanmbi: Leveraging Llama 2 for Social Good
Olubayo Adekanmbi, the CEO of Data Science Nigeria (now known as equalyzAI), is a leading figure in AI research and development. He’s passionate about using AI to empower individuals and bridge the digital divide.
EqualyzAI is building a unique hyperlocal multimodal dataset, models and APIs that unlock the potential of generative AI for native dialect speakers in Africa. They focus on creating Large Language Models (LLMs) for African languages that can be fine-tuned in response to specific health, finance, agriculture and education needs.
Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi: Revolutionising Fact-Checking with Llama 3
Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi, a youth leader and researcher, is dedicated to leveraging technology for social good. His focus is on the transformative potential of digital governance in driving positive social change.
Olasupo has developed various civic tech products to enhance public engagement and digital governance. Among them is MyAIFactChecker, which tackles the critical issue of misinformation by providing accurate and user-friendly fact-checking capabilities.
MyAIFactChecker leverages Llama 3’s advanced capabilities to address the misinformation problem effectively. Llama 3’s state-of-the-art contextual understanding and generative AI capabilities enhance the accuracy and relevance of fact-checking.
This user-friendly platform, MyAIFactChecker, supports multiple languages, including French, Swahili and Nigerian local languages, offering a truly inclusive user experience. This multilingual capability, combined with the voice option for fact-checking, breaks down language barriers and offers a more inclusive user experience.
One of the primary impacts of MyAIFactChecker is its ability to rapidly and accurately assess the validity of claims. Traditional fact-checking methods often struggle with the sheer volume of information and can be slow to respond.
