A Ghanaian Computer Scientist and Mathematician, Dr. Paul Azunre has been recognized by the United Nations Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board (AIAB). The Ghana Natural Language Processing founder was invited to participate in the AIAB’s consultative meeting aimed at providing governance on AI for humanity.
Taking to social media to share the news, the man behind Ghana and Africa’s top indigenous language translation app, Khaya said it is a great pleasure to get this recognition.
“Your boy got invited by the United Nations to contribute to the Governance of AI for all Humanity. Had to do a double take like – ‘these scammers must think I am an idiot’. Turns out it is real,” he said in the post.
According to Paul Azunre, during the five years he has been working on ensuring Ghana is not left out of the AI revolution, he faced many obstacles including the lack of support. Most notable among them is the lack of support but he has persisted.
He said the experience makes these kinds of recognitions feel “feel kinda weird”. Paul Azunre added that, though he is excited about the invitation by the United Nations AIAB, “The body can’t process or even enjoy any of these milestones because…the work is nowhere close to done.” Another reason why he can’t celebrate is that “the support is not forthcoming unless someone’s palm is greased.”
About Ghana Natural Language Processing (Ghana NLP)
Ghana Natural Language Process Ghana is an Open Source Initiative focused on the Natural Language Processing (NLP) of Ghanaian Languages and its applications to local problems. Initially focused on Twi, Ghana NLP has moved beyond that to include five other Ghanaian languages in its portfolio.
Khaya, the model language translation application developed by Ghana NLP offers translation services in Dagbani, Ewe, Fante, Ga and Gurune in Ghana. It also stretches to Nigeria where it covers Yoruba and Kenya; offering translation in Kikuyu and Kimeru. Also, Khaya offers translation services in Luo, a language spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, northeastern Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, southwestern Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Khaya is available for download for free on Google Play Store and the Apple App Store for mobile users while one can also access it on the web through its official Ghana NLP website.