Broadening advanced AI education across Africa

Broadening advanced AI education across Africa

AI is driving scientific discoveries and research breakthroughs, but its progress depends on a global community. To bridge the gap between talent and opportunity, Google DeepMind is launching additional courses of its AI Research Foundations curriculum: advanced AI education designed for the next generation of technical learners across Africa.

Hands-on experience with generative AI models

The courses, developed with pedagogy experts and academics at University College London — and available at no cost on Google Skills — give learners the opportunity to build and fine-tune a language model from the ground up. Google.org is supporting the curriculum’s rollout in African classrooms by providing funding for lecturer training and instructional toolkits.

The curriculum, already serving thousands of users globally, moves beyond AI literacy, providing technical university students and community learners with a deep, applied understanding of modern AI systems. Learners will engage in hands-on experience with generative language models and transformers, all guided by our responsible innovation principles. These skills are the foundation for a future in AI research, in which learners can use advanced AI to make progress on society’s biggest challenges.

The courses are available for independent, self-paced study or for integration into structured courses by educators at non-governmental organizations and universities.

Crafted for global impact, localized to African contexts

One in five people on the planet live in Africa, but only 1.8% of the contributions to AI research come from the continent. There is an incredible opportunity to bring more African innovation to the table, ensuring that the AI of tomorrow is built by — and for — global communities.

Recognizing this clear need, we have localized the AI Research Foundations curriculum to African contexts through collaboration with local learners and experts from the African Institute for Mathematical Studies (AIMS). The programming features real-world research use cases specific to the continent. While built with African communities in mind, it’s available at no cost to learners around the world.

Here’s how community members are using the curriculum so far:

Designed to scale through educators

Guided by feedback from the African AI research community, experts from across Google DeepMind and University College London have designed a flexible curriculum that effectively translates online concepts into in-person instruction.

Google.org has provided $4 million in funding to the FATE Foundation. In partnership with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), this initiative will bring the online curriculum into classrooms in Africa. This next phase will launch specialized lecturer toolkits and “train-the-trainer” programs, equipping African educators with the resources they need to succeed.

By ensuring the AI Research Foundations curriculum is confidently delivered in local contexts, we aim to broaden participation in advanced AI education and empower budding researchers to responsibly address the challenges that matter to them and their communities.

Develop your advanced AI research skills today by accessing the no cost curriculum on Google Skills.