Technology Professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Ghana, Legon, Isaac Wiafe, has called on academics, policymakers and local communities to take urgent steps to protect and promote Ghanaian languages in the fast-growing world of artificial intelligence (AI).
Speaking at the International Mother Language Day symposium on Wednesday February 25, 2026, he explained that AI systems are built on three main things which are data, algorithms and computing power.
While Ghana may not control the powerful computers and complex systems used to run AI globally, he said the country does have control over one very important resource; data.
“We need data, we need algorithms and we need computing power. We may not control the computing power, but we control the data. Whatever data we give these machines is what they will use,” he said.
He expressed concern that many African languages are not well represented online.
Out of about 7,100 languages spoken around the world, he said less than one percent are widely used to create online content.
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“About three billion people speak what we call low-resource languages. Yet English alone dominates most of the digital space. That is where the problem is,” he stated.
Wiafe added that the rise of AI has led to a massive increase in online content, but most of it is in English.
“Almost 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years. And we are producing most of it in English. So English keeps growing stronger online while our local languages fall behind,” he added.
Despite the challenges, he believes AI can also help Ghana if the right steps are taken. “AI can help us promote and modernise our local languages but it will only improve if we create more content in those languages,” he said.
Wiafe disclosed that his team has been working with Google over the past three years to improve support for at least five Ghanaian languages.
He also revealed plans to develop a Ghana focused large language model to better serve local users.
“If we build our own datasets and train our own models, we can solve many of these problems,” he said.
The professor also encouraged parents to value local languages at home.
“There is no formula that says speaking good English makes you more intelligent. We should not abandon our own languages in our homes,” he said.
He stressed the need to develop scientific and technical terms in Ghanaian languages.
“When colonial masters came, they translated religious books but not science books,” he noted.
“We must now take responsibility to develop words for science and technology in our own languages,” he added.
As part of ongoing efforts, he disclosed his team has developed free electronic keyboards for Ghanaian languages and collected nearly 6,000 hours of recorded local speech to help train AI systems.
“We want every dialect represented.When a language is visible online, its speakers feel valued,” he said.
Wiafe urged collaboration across sectors to help leverage AI to preserve the country's mother tongue.
“The more our languages are represented online, the better it will be for us. If we do not act, others will shape the digital future for us. But if we contribute, AI will learn our languages and that will benefit everyone,” he stressed.
Watch the video below
Allow children to speak local languages - Prof Isaac Wiafe urges parents
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