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The Wits MIND Institute

  • Wits is uniquely placed to contribute to AI research and capacity building in South Africa and Africa, as well as securing the necessary funding and infrastructure to accelerate the advancement and commercialization of cutting-edge AI technologies.

The Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery Institute (The Wits MIND Institute) at Wits University is an African-based interdisciplinary AI research hub that pushes the frontiers of scientific understanding of machine, human and animal intelligence. 

The Wits MIND Institute focuses on fundamental AI research that promotes breakthrough scientific discoveries and aims to grow a much-needed critical mass of AI expertise on the continent.?Through robust interdisciplinary collaborations, MIND partners with industry and others to develop cutting-edge technologies tailored to Africa’s unique challenges.? 

The Wits MIND Institute also addresses how AI interfaces with society from an ethical and policy perspective, shaping governance and ensuring that AI development is safe, inclusive, and beneficial to all.

 

Why is there a need for an African AI Institute?

The early years of AI

Since the 1950s, researchers have been exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replicate human cognitive functions such as learning, reasoning, perception, and problem-solving. In the early 2000s, breakthroughs in computational power and access to vast datasets accelerated progress in AI fields like machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI. However, it wasn't until November 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT to the public, that AI truly captured global attention.

A general-purpose AI tool

For the first time, a general-purpose AI tool became accessible to everyday users, proving both useful and transformative across various industries. This sparked a wave of investment into AI startups, some of which reached billion-dollar valuations within months. Established companies are also incorporating generative AI into their services, either through partnerships with AI startups or by building their own solutions. Governments worldwide are enacting policies to fuel R&D, attract top talent, and support AI innovation to remain globally competitive.

Potential harms

Despite these opportunities, there are growing concerns about the potential harms AI could pose, such as misuse, misinformation, hate speech, bias, and privacy violations. While experts have warned of these risks for years, it's only recently that policymakers have started prioritizing the development of safe AI. A notable example is the Bletchley Declaration on AI Safety, which emerged from a meeting of 28 nations, marking a collaborative effort to manage AI risks on a global scale.

AI and Africa

As the world races ahead with AI advancements, there are concerns that Africa could be left behind. AI in Africa is currently a mix of growing potential, active development, and persistent challenges. Despite the continent's growing potential in AI, significant challenges—ranging from infrastructure deficits and talent shortages to limited research funding—threaten to slow its progress. Without strategic investments and collaboration, Africa risks becoming a consumer rather than a creator in the global AI economy. 

Enter the Wits MIND Institute, a hub for inter- and multi-disciplinary AI research

MIND brings together experts in the fields such as computer and mathematical sciences, neuroscience, psychology, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, the creative arts, and governance.

One of our key goals is to nurture and expand our AI talent pool. The focus on talent development is crucial for establishing a robust AI research community, capable of competing on the global stage.

Our research efforts will focus on understanding the science of intelligence through interdisciplinary collaboration. By building and analyzing new models, the aim is to study both machine and natural intelligence.

From a machine learning perspective, research will tackle challenges such as creating new models for sequential decision-making in reinforcement learning, exploring alternatives to transformer neural networks, understanding learning processes in deep neural networks, and integrating logical reasoning into AI systems.

We will also bring together experts in natural intelligence to study human decision-making, creativity, and thought processes. Leveraging local knowledge in archaeology and human evolution, partnerships will explore questions around building more efficient AI models and understanding the evolution of consciousness.

Unique in its interdisciplinary approach, the Institute will also include philosophers and ethicists to explore the relationship between humans and machines, and how to embed regional values in AI. Collaborating with policy experts, they will work to engage policymakers and ensure timely transitions from research to application and commercialisation.

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