TECHNOLOGY INDABA

ONE of the world’s leading thinkers in machine learning and principal scientist at Google DeepMind Professor Nando de Freitas said fundamental research in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is essential if Africa wants to have control over some of the really big ideas in the world.

De Freitas presented the keynote address at the Deep Learning Indaba at Stellenbosch University, on until Friday.

The Deep Learning Indaba is a volunteer-driven grassroots organisation aimed at building pan-African capacity in Artificial Intelligence by creating communities, building leadership and recognising excellence across the continent.

During the week, more than 500 students and researchers from 30 African countries and 19 international countries are exposed to several of the world’s leading thinkers in this field.

De Freitas said it is still very difficult for machines to recognise shapes, such as that of Table Mountain, or to emulate even the most basic of human actions, such as pouring milk into a cup, which is something a 3-year-old also has to master.

“Hard coding has its limits and it is very hard to get machines to do what human minds can do.

“We are trying to do this the machine-learning way, but for that we need massive datasets of images and comparative training data sets.

“This takes a lot of effort and ingenuity. It cannot be taught. You have to figure it out as you go along.”

Other key events this week include a Women in Machine Learning event sponsored by Microsoft, the inaugural Kambule and Maathai Awards that recognise excellence in the research and application of machine learning in Africa, with the closing keynote address to be delivered by Professor Jeff Dean, global head of Google AI, and Google Senior Fellow, on Friday.