Using Gen AI to Make Health Services Better in Africa

Reflecting on the current uptake of the digital revolution across Africa, Generative AI (Gen AI) is set to revolutionize areas of education and healthcare. As internet connection grows, using mobile phones, people’s demand for different technology solutions grows too, which gives vast opportunities to Gen AI in education and healthcare improvements.

The last day of Nigeria Fintech Week 2024 recorded the rich and diverse fintech industry in the country. Organized for three days between October 8th and 10th at the Landmark Event Center in Lagos, this event has united leaders, experts, and fans of the fintech industry to learn about its current trends, challenges, and opportunities.

Some of the areas of focus that were covered during the occasion were: Gen AI Applications for Education and Health in Africa. Connecting with other speakers including Adedamola Oloko –AXA Mansard, Dr Krish Ranganath from Africa Data Centres, Ayodele Adeyemi-Faboya from Banwo & Ighodalo, Linda Obi, and Dr Jason Scales, the group examined how artificial intelligence might transform these important sectors in Africa.

This article will look at what the future holds for Gen AI in these areas, especially in the context of the African continent.

 

Gen AI in Education: Redefining African Classrooms

If left unaddressed, education in Africa has several barriers such as………Accessibility to quality teaching and learning resources is also still a major challenge and challenge due to many classes per teacher and teacher absenteeism. Nevertheless, Gen AI holds the capability to transform learning facilities, deliver individual instruction, and improve access in aspects conventional methods fail to deliver.

 

1. Personalized Learning for All

The most stimulating of all the uses of AI in education is its capacity for individualization of the learning process. Computer-based instruction techniques can identify a student’s special educational needs and learning rates and then set a variety of instructional speeds to match the learner. Taking this case in areas where there is overcrowding of classes they are assured that one gets left behind in his/her methods of learning.

With such tools as AI learning platforms already being implemented in Africa, students can get feedback, assessments and Web resources available 24/7. This will be particularly important for the students in rural areas as they can hardly get employed and experienced teachers and learning facilities.

 

2. Addressing Teacher Shortages

AI in education perceives strategies for protracted teacher deficiencies that are being experienced in Africa. The role of virtual assistants in the teaching-learning process is to attend to queries from the students and also proctor assignment, grading and even explaining difficult concepts to the learners. There is a gap in the provision of tutoring services to students, especially the less privileged from the primary school level, to achieve their educational goals in African countries. Innovative products like M-Shule, an ed-tech solution applying artificial intelligence in Kenya, increase the chances of scoring good grades for students through employing expert tutoring services using Short Messaging Services (SMS).

 

3. Closing the Digital Divide

As it is evident, the use of AI solutions in learning can improve the efficiency of the process; however, there is a problem with the availability of electronic devices, especially in Africa. This means that when technology is not well adopted in basic education for the promotion of internet access and digital devices, the adoption of AI in education could help worsen inequality. But as the digital infrastructure of the continent evolves along with the rise in the investment made across African education technology, the promise that AI holds in delivering education for everyone becomes more realistic.

 

Gen AI in Healthcare: The Future of African Health Systems

Similar to education, there is a critical system of constraints in the health sector in the African region including the inadequacy of health facilities, endangered healthcare human resources, and humble access to reborn care services. A general integrated AI might solve many of these problems by proposing new technologies in the health sector to fill the gap across the continent.

 

1. AI-Powered Diagnostics

Diagnostics is one of the most symbiotic matches made for artificial intelligence in the health sector. From the application to read images like X-rays, and MRIs the use of artificial intelligence to diagnose surface diseases like tuberculosis, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases are more efficient and accurate. AI can also take in data from different patient records, or data from wearable technologies to notice early signs of potential health issues.

In the African continent, where hospitals are burdened with high patient turnover with inadequate resources, AI can help in sorting out which patients need immediate treatment. For example, companies like Ubenwa based in Nigeria, employs the use of Artificial Intelligence in diagnosing newborn baby's cries to identify symptoms of life-threatening ailments, for instance, birth asphyxia.

 

2. Telemedicine and Remote Monitoring

Telemedicine as one of the advanced Gen AI solutions has brought an unprecedented change in general health care access, especially for the rural populace in Africa. Advancements in AI healthcare platforms help doctors assess and treat patients based on distance, where lack of transport is a hindrance. In addition, AI can track patients’ vital signs by using wearables, in case some changes are detected, an alert will be provided to the healthcare providers.

The importance of AI-based content generation for patient’s learning needs is also in reference. Specifically, with the use of AI, health content can be developed locally, and more language-specific, thus becoming more disseminated and understandable amongst a more multiple population.

 

3. Optimizing Resource Allocation

In Africa for instance, where resources are scarce, the application of AI in healthcare efficacy resources will be quite significant. Predictive models of AI can predict the occurrence of diseases, monitor the stocks of the hospital and predict the number of admissions in advance which can be useful. This is particularly important in responding to health diseases outbreaks including the current COVID-19, or malaria.

 

Overcoming Challenges: Infrastructure and Ethical Concerns

However, the future progression of AI in education and healthcare faces several problems. The first reason that does not allow the development of AI technologies is the absence of the proper basis for the AI technologies’ implementation. Despite that many rural regions still have no electricity and a very low internet connection, which are essential to apply AI solutions.

Furthermore, issues as to the ethical application of data such as privacy cannot be lost sight of when using AI. In healthcare, especially, patients’ records are ensured and AI algorithms can be biased and give one side of the medical center a higher chance. Such efforts are notable as Africa advances in AI adoption: policymakers and stakeholders must work together to develop adequate data protection legislation and policies that will allow everyone to benefit from AI.

 

Conclusion

Gen AI applications in education and health are believed to respond to some of Africa's significant issues. They are lighting the future of technology implementation in human experience ranging from AI in learning platforms to revolutionize the education system, to using AI in health to redesign diagnosis and treatment options.

Having said that, AI adoption in these sectors is just as critical by having an equal focus directed towards issues like; infrastructure, ethics, and digital gap. Investing in education and proper regulation, Africa is on the brink of attaining a digital revolution which will impact the improvement of educational achievements as well as the health system in the whole continent.

So as AI progresses, Africa has the chance to become a pioneer in the use of technology to enhance society. It is about time for the right and progressive investments in Artificial Intelligence solutions for education and Health sectors that hold the future of tomorrow of the African continent.