The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences is setting the pace in innovation and graduate studies in Africa. In 2018, it launched for the first time a fully-funded year-long intensive graduate program in Machine Learning known as the African Master’s in Machine Intelligence (AMMI).
AMMI ties into AIMS’ goal of ‘enabling Africa’s talented students to become innovators driving the continent’s scientific, educational, and economic self-sufficiency. Particularly, AMMI focuses on ‘the advancement of Machine Learning in the service of a global society.’
The program, funded in partnership with Facebook and Google, has produced about 200 graduates. But why Machine Learning in the first place?
Machine Learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI). It is based on the idea that engineering systems can automatically learn from data, improve, and make decisions through pattern identification with least human intervention.
It has numerous applications, including self-driving cars, image recognition, practical speech recognition, statistical arbitrage, and online recommendation offers from Netflix. For example, Google uses machine learning techniques to search results, make recommendations, and boost user experiences. Thus, the future of machine learning is indeed exhilarating as its domains continue to expand.
With a 47:52 female to male ratio, AMMI is not only leading Africa and its educational institutions to embrace the potential of AI and machine learning but is encouraging females into STEM-an area often dominated by males. AMMI has a graduation rate of 91% and provides a rich and diverse community with 23 countries represented.
It is hoped that African countries and universities will, just like AIMS, embrace the potentials of Machine Learning and other new disciplines of studies as the world continues to evolve.
Now, suppose you want to be well prepared into a well-rounded machine intelligence researcher who can respond to both the present and future needs of Africa and the world. AMMI in Africa is the place to be.
Click to visit the program’s official site.
