Avinash Meetoo

Let us build a Smart Mauritius together

Discovering Ghana through Digital Transformation

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I recently came back from Accra, Ghana, where I spoke at a workshop about Digital Transformation, Digital Public Goods and Digital Public Infrastructure. Around 50 people from different parts of the Ghanaian government attended.

In my talks, I shared how Mauritius is progressing in the technology sector and how we are in the process to submit Digital Public Goods to the DPG Alliance. I emphasised using technology, including emerging technologies, like IoT, Blockchain, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to reach our goals. Drawing from my academic background, I highlighted how AI assistants (based on similar technologies as ChatGPT) can help create smart citizens in both Mauritius and Ghana. The Q&A sessions after each talk were lively and engaging.

I also got to hear from Jason Hickey, Head of Google Research in Accra, Ghana. He discussed Google’s research in predicting weather, improving ultrasound images using affordable sensors and translating local languages into text, inter alia. All these research projects were done using AI.

The workshop was organised by the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (GI-KACE), the UNDP Chief Digital Office and the UNDP Ghana Country Office. Special thanks to Fred Yeboah, Jacqueline Tsuma and Seth Akumani.

Ghana and its people are amazing, and I wish them all the best.

L’Intelligence Artificielle comme réponse à la compléxité

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J’ai eu l’immense plaisir de faire une conférence sur l’Intelligence Artificielle aux étudiants en BTS de la MCCI Business School.

Pendant une heure, j’ai essayé de démystifier l’IA, notamment comme outil pour trouver des solutions aux problèmes complexes auquel le monde, ainsi que Maurice, fait face.

J’ai aussi exploré l’utilisation d’outils comme ChatGPT pendant les études et, même après, dans le monde professionnel. Pourquoi ne pas construire un assistant numérique, sous la forme d’un “chatbot”, qui stockerait toutes les connaissances factuelles nécessaires à un étudiant? Le temps libéré permettrait aux profs d’enseigner à un niveau plus élevé.

Je suis heureux d’avoir pu partager ma passion et mon expérience avec les nombreux étudiants, la seule force de notre pays, notre “peopleware”.

Merci à la MCCI Business School (où j’étais chargé de cours en Informatique 18 ans de cela…) et, en particulier à Steven Ramalingum et Virginie Blackburn-Lennon.

Should teachers and students celebrate or be cautious of ChatGPT?

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I made a presentation on the implications of embracing ChatGPT in our daily life at e-MIG 2023 Conference organised by the Open University of Mauritius.

I spoke about Artificial Intelligence from the 50’s to our era, of the difference between narrow and general AI, on the AI strategy for Mauritius, on how to construct a neural network and how ChatGPT works. I spent some time exploring how AI can help students (and their teachers). Finally, I told the audience that we need well-rounded people, not only comfortable with science but also having soft-skills and an artistic sensibility.

For me, ChatGPT is just a tool. While it might seem to do things which a human being cannot do, this is not strictly true. But it is clear that tools such as ChatGPT are capable of (1) learning from a large corpus of knowledge and (2) answering questions very quickly. With such tools and with the right corpus of knowledge (hint: think everything about all the facts which are taught in primary, secondary and tertiary level), it is possible to envision a formidable digital assistant for students and teachers alike. Teachers will not have to explain the same things over and over again to students and will be able to concentrate on imparting experience and (useful) anecdotes. I would have loved that at the time I was a student…

I then participated in a panel chaired by Dr Perienen Appavoo (from the Open University) and the other panelists were Dr Upasana Singh (from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban) and Vrigesh Futta (from the Mauritius Emerging Technologies Council). The audience asked wonderful questions which we tried to answer in the best way possible. Of course, some were concerned about the use of ChatGPT by some students to cheat but the consensus was that it is more useful to focus on the half-full glass instead of the half-empty glass. Can ChatGPT actually allow teacher to create a new cohort of empowered students, better equipped to tackle the complexity of our world?

Time will tell.

Personally, I greatly enjoyed my time at e-MIG 2023 Conference. Thank you everyone.