Experts in medicine, education, and information technology have called for the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence to advance medical practice in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. The appeal was made during the 4th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (MIRG-ICAIR 2024), held under the theme “Artificial Intelligence For the Future Industrialization of medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Hosted by the Machine Intelligence Research Group from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and NITHUB, the event brought together researchers, industry professionals, and government representatives. Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, emphasized that the conference serves as a vital platform for collaborative dialogue to scale healthcare services and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.
Driving Local Innovation Over Foreign Imports
Dr. Olatunji Omisore, an expert in intelligent systems from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered the keynote address. He warned that nations failing to adopt robotics and artificial intelligence will fall behind. Dr. Omisore highlighted the application of robotics across military, agricultural, and medical sectors, noting significant impacts on diagnosis, surgery, and rehabilitation.
Addressing panel discussions, Dr. Omisore stressed the necessity of shifting away from importing foreign technology toward fostering local innovation. He urged African nations to invest in homegrown technological solutions to build self-sufficiency. Regarding concerns over job displacement, he noted that artificial intelligence primarily drives productivity improvements, provided proper regulatory policies are established.
What drove the recent push for artificial intelligence in African healthcare?
The push for artificial intelligence in African healthcare stems from an urgent need to scale medical services, improve precision diagnostics, and overcome resource constraints by fostering local technological innovations and cross-sector collaboration across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The conference featured five keynote presentations, four panel discussions, and twenty-seven research paper presentations supported by sponsors including DTC GIZ, Mainone Solution by Equinix, Moniepoint, and Data Science Nigeria.
