94 |FORBESAFRICAAPRIL 2020FORBESAFRICAFORBESAFRICA.COMOPINION • TECHNOLOGY
I
N FEBRUARY THIS
year, telecommunications
company Ericsson
announced that it had
launched artificial intelligence-
powered Energy Infrastructure
Operations. This energy
management system would
leverage artificial intelligence
(AI) to optimize energy
consumption across the
network infrastructure for
communications service
providers. Not only does this
reduce operating costs and
carbon dioxide emissions,
but it also maximizes site
availability. AI is a technology
that capacitates machines to be
intelligent.
The International Energy
Agency (IEA) has observed that
increased energy consumption
resulted in all-time high carbon
emissions from fossil fuels in- Even utility companies
have cottoned on to AI
solutions. For instance, AI can
improve the reliability of solar
and wind power by analyzing
meteorological data and
Why It’s Imperative For
Universities To Teach
AI To All Students
BYTSHILIDZIMARWALA
utilizing this information to make predictions.
AI is the most significant technology in the
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The 4IR is
an industrial age where production is enhanced
using intelligent machines, powered by AI. In
the 4IR, people and technology are increasingly
becoming one system. The 4IR encompasses the
entire wave of disruptive techniques such as 5G
networks, autonomous vehicles, 3D-printing and
the internet of things (IoT).
These substantial disruptions are affecting
all industries and entire systems of production,
management and governance and will
undoubtedly transform all aspects of 21st-
century life and society. For us to prepare the
African continent for this new wave, it is now
becoming imperative for universities to begin
to teach AI to all students irrespective of the
courses they are studying.
Three elements are essential in teaching
AI, and these are AI theory, AI coding and
AI applications. The AI theory explains
the mechanism of AI, how it is evolving, its
structures, and how to make AI learn. For people
in humanities and social sciences, we can teach
AI theory using visual aids and lots of verbal and
accessible explanations. For people in science,
engineering and technology (STEM) disciplines,
we can teach AI theory using mathematics and
algorithms. Algorithms are a set of instructions
that programmers give to computing devices to
perform particular instructions.
AI coding is about how to take an AI concept
and program it on a computing device. For
people in humanities and social sciences,
there are already computer programs written
that require minimal programming skills. For
example, Microsoft Excel and associated plugins,
which are relatively easy to use and is familiar
to people in humanities and social sciences,
now have AI features. For people in STEM
disciplines, there are existing AI programs
that require the ability to interface differentAI modules to build robust AI applications.
One of these AI programs is TensorFlow,
which was developed by the company Google
and is available for free. TensorFlow requires
knowledge of a computer language such as
Python and C++. Microsoft has its own AI suite
called Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit.
AI applications are on how AI technology
can be applied to various areas. For people in
humanities and social sciences, we should teach
them about various AI applications using just
words and everyday activities. For example, we
can use the tapping of clay pots and listening to
them to explain using AI to monitor the safety
of buildings. For people in STEM disciplines,
we should teach them how actually to build
applications using data and AI programs.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) in
South Africa has now introduced a compulsory
course on AI for all students. This is to respond
to the need that universities should shift their
roles towards a focus on emerging requirements
of business, governments and society, which
increasingly necessitate knowledge of AI.
Resolution Circle (RC), a Johannesburg-
based company of UJ, is a technology entity that
is a conduit between industry and communities
and provides 4IR short-learning programs in
AI. RC’s goal is to upskill the people of Africa
and thereby increase their competitiveness.
More courses on AI offered by UJ include
Masters in Artificial Intelligence, Masters in
Financial Engineering, and continuing education
programs, for example, in Computational
Intelligence.
To quote the 19th-century theologian John
Henry Newman on defining the role of a
university, “It is the education which gives man
a clear, conscious view of their own opinions
and judgements, a truth in developing them, an
eloquence in expressing them, and a force in
urging them.”
Let us offer all Africans a clear view of AI.The writer is a professor
and Vice-Chancellor
of the University of
Johannesburg. He
deputizes President
Cyril Ramaphosa on the
South African Presidential
Commission on the Fourth
Industrial Revolution