Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Ghana, Prof. Isaac Wiafe, has said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not be significant or beneficial to the country until it impacts the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
He stated that although Ghana has adopted the use of AI, more effort must be made to make it accessible to people, positively influencing their lives, including those of persons with disabilities.
Speaking at his inaugural lecture at the UG Great Hall on July 2, 2026, on the theme, “Why AI Is Irrelevant to Ghana: Reclaiming Our Future Through Human-Centred Transformation,” Prof. Wiafe shed light on the subject.
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/12-Dead-150-Rescued-GNFS-gives-breakdown-of-June-29-flood-tragedy-2041119
"Let me repeat that the greatest danger is not that Ghana may fail to adopt AI, but that Ghana will adopt AI extensively while failing to develop the capacity to create, govern, and capture value from it. AI must impact the daily lives of ordinary Ghanaians. When district assemblies can use it to anticipate and solve local problems, when traders in Makola and Kejetia can use it to improve their businesses, when farmers can produce more with less uncertainty, when our schools, clinics, markets, farms, and local institutions experience not just digital presence but meaningful transformation, and when it empowers persons with disabilities to participate more fully in society, until then, I say that AI is not relevant for this country," he said.
Prof. Wiafe went on to highlight ways Ghana can utilise AI efficiently, stressing the need to invest robustly in building data infrastructure in local languages for various sectors of the economy. He noted that his department has already begun contributing to this effort.
He also called for training on AI models and their application to solving everyday problems so that ordinary people, not just the educated elite, can benefit.
"From my perspective, the first major activity Ghana must focus on is building a Ghanaian data infrastructure. This is the most urgent thing we need to do. We must develop high-quality datasets in local languages for education, health, agriculture, etc. This requires deliberate investment in data collection, cleaning, annotation, governance, and stewardship. The current lack of local content is not a minor technical gap; it is one of the most pressing barriers to making AI relevant to Ghana. At the University of Ghana, through the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the Department of Computer Science, we have begun contributing to this national data infrastructure with support from leading technological organisations such as Google.
"This is where Ghana can strategically compete. We can build research excellence in efficient model training, low-resource AI methods, domain adaptation, and evaluation of local content. Hence, we may not need the largest frontier model in the world."
He added: "We only need to build the human capacity to shape AI for Ghana's needs. If we fail to build this talent pipeline, then even the best AI strategy will depend heavily on external expertise. My third suggestion is that Ghana needs shared infrastructure. Yes, we plan to build Exaflux and other AI platforms, but I suggest we focus on shared infrastructure. This supports the direction of Ghana's AI strategy, but it is not enough to train students and researchers if we cannot share our ideas."
Prof. Wiafe further proposed that AI must be connected to real public and livelihood problems. He emphasised that AI should not remain an elite technology but must become a practical tool for solving everyday challenges in Ghana.
"AI must move beyond curiosity and entertainment for Ghanaian traders and provide useful information. Traders should be able to use AI to organise inventory and become smarter. Farmers should be able to detect when yields can be increased. AI must also support inclusion, especially for persons with disabilities," he concluded.
Watch the lecture below:
SB/BAI
Norway fans celebrate Haaland as Brazilians blame coach for World Cup defeat
Copyright © 1994 - 2026 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
