Artificial intelligence (AI) is upending life, work, and play as we know it and its only just getting started. The rise of AI is a milestone on par with the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, and the creation of the internet. In short, AI is going to change everything. For some, thats an exciting prospect. For others, its terrifying. However you feel about AI, theres no escaping it, whether youre in a global metropolis or a farmer in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Dr Mark Nasila has been watching AIs ascent for over a decade, studying its effects on everything from agriculture and aviation to healthcare, education, entertainment, crime prevention, energy management, policy creation, finance, and anything in between, and applying them to his role at one of South Africas most successful financial institutions, First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Group.

African Artificial Intelligence is a comprehensive and fascinating journey, tracing the rise of AI and its evolution into the emerging technology underpinning all others from connected devices and smart chatbots to the metaverse. Mark combines unexpected use cases and tales of cutting-edge innovation with a unique and potent argument: harnessing AI to solve Africas problems requires embracing it from an African perspective.

African nations cant afford to simply import AI solutions from afar. Instead, Mark contends, they need to rework, remix, and refine AI so its able to meet uniquely African challenges in uniquely African ways, and to take advantage of the once-in-a-generation opportunity AI represents for every industry, sector, and person, everywhere.