On Friday, November 25, 2022, delegates from Fair Forward visited the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lab (RAIL) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to witness the current implementation status of the project. The Fair Forward team comprised Nadine Dammaschk, Mary Afram, and Elikplim Sablah.
The RAIL team present at the meeting were the Principal Investigator (PI) and Scientific Director, Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Dr. Eric Tutu Tchao (Partnership Coordinator), Christiana Selorm Aggor (Centre Administrator), Abraham Yenu Lambon (Accountant) and Gifty Antoinette Hukpati (Communication Officer).
The PI provided an update on RAIL’s activities. He mentioned that RAIL, in partnership with Women in STEM (WiSTEM), is mentoring some senior high schools in the Ashanti Region in robotics and AI. He said a team from RAIL would be visiting these schools’ robotic clubs and introducing them to AI and robotics projects, as well as the ethical dimensions of AI and robotics; this is to give them the correct orientation at a young age. “The lab is currently working with three schools: St. Louis Secondary School, KNUST Senior High School, and Dormaa Secondary School, and the hope is that if this pilot stage is successful, other schools will be brought on board to make an impact,” he indicated.
Prof. Kponyo touched on the upcoming RAIL short course. He said 26 people had registered so far, and the majority are students, with a few from the industry. He mentioned that the short course would be a five-day training program where participants will be introduced to modules on responsible AI and exciting topics in machine learning.
He said RAIL is committed to creating awareness of the responsible use of AI. Hence, the engagement with secondary schools, media agencies, and the upcoming short course workshop.
“There will be a panel discussion on the responsible use of AI on media channels. The lab will target focus groups like artisans, who are unaware of AI but deal with technology regularly”, he stated. On inclusivity, he added that the lab would have a workshop with stakeholders who will use responsible AI solutions in their work. The Fair Forward team also had the opportunity to interact with the RAIL national service personnel on their work experience with the project and the impact RAIL is having on their future career interest.
