The Hitchhiker's Guide to AI

Did you know that AI helped South Africa to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup? That Africa led the way in small language models? That AI has been supporting farmers in Kenya for the last decade?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI: The African Edge reframes the conversation about AI through the lens of human roles, and merges global advances with distinctly African realities.

From farmers using AI to track bee movements, to school pupils guided by WhatsApp tutors, to musicians experimenting with machine-made beats, this book explores how everyday people across the African continent are shaping – and being shaped by – the rise of machine intelligence.

Rather than obsessing over distant futures or Silicon Valley breakthroughs, this book brings AI down to earth. Through the eyes of local and international teachers, coders, executives and artists, it tells the story of Africa’s AI moment – not as a catch-up game, but as reframing the global narrative.

Insightful, grounded and provocative, it’s a guide to navigating the most transformative technology of our age – with feet firmly planted on African soil, and eyes wide open to the global context.