Africa’s AI moment: We're not catching up but reframing AI, says Arthur Goldstuck in new book

The Money Show's Stephen Grootes talks AI in Africa with author and founder of tech market research organisation World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck.

Every week The Money Show interviews the author or reviewer of a new or trending business book.

This week Stephen Grootes talked to Arthur Goldstuck about his new spin on his book 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to AI'.

Goldstuck's fresh take is subtitled The African Edge, as opposed to the original book's A Handbook for All.

What he discovered in his journeys around the world of AI, is just how innovative the use of AI is across the continent, Goldstuck says -  in every sector you can imagine from sports, to arts, to agriculture. 

"You can get guides to AI anywhere but the one thing that's missing in most or when you ask AI itself to explain to you how to use it, you're not actually told how AI is being used successfully across the African continent where people assume that we're behind the times, that we're not tech-savvy."

"Something I discovered while writing the first book is that when you look at innovation in the heart of innovation country which is Silicon Valley, it's all about what's the opportunity; how can we create a unicorn or a company worth a billion dollars overnight, in other words how can we make money out of this innovation?"

"In Africa, the question is very different: It is 'How do we solve our problems?' It is 
'how do we address our challenges?', or 'how can we use this technology to help us solve this particular challenge?'."

"The way I sum it up, is that in Silicon Valley innovation is inspired by opportunity and across Africa innovation is inspired by need. Yes, also by opportunity, but that opportunity comes out of needs rather than a gap in the market."

Arthur Goldstuck, Author - The Hitchhiker's Guide to AI: The African Edge

Description on Google Books:

Did you know that AI helped South Africa to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup? That Africa led the way in small language models? That AI has been supporting farmers in Kenya for the last decade?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI: The African Edge reframes the conversation about AI through the lens of human roles, and merges global advances with distinctly African realities.

From farmers using AI to track bee movements, to school pupils guided by WhatsApp tutors, to musicians experimenting with machine-made beats, this book explores how everyday people across the African continent are shaping – and being shaped by – the rise of machine intelligence.

Rather than obsessing over distant futures or Silicon Valley breakthroughs, this book brings AI down to earth. Through the eyes of local and international teachers, coders, executives and artists, it tells the story of Africa’s AI moment – not as a catch-up game, but as reframing the global narrative.

Insightful, grounded and provocative, it’s a guide to navigating the most transformative technology of our age – with feet firmly planted on African soil, and eyes wide open to the global context.

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from Arthur Goldstuck on the use of AI on the African continent.