Michael Mollol from Tanzania holds a grasp’s and PhD in Info Communication Science and Engineering. He joined Zindi in 2018, and over time, he turned one of many platform’s most lively customers. As he continued to study and purchase new abilities from the Zindi competitions, he met lifelong associates alongside the best way. A kind of friendships led to co-founding an AI firm for African language fashions. At the moment, Michael is again on Zindi, this time as a contest host, designing and implementing a brand new problem on Zindi.
Becoming a member of Zindi
Throughout his postgraduate research, Michael was exploring how AI could possibly be used to unravel issues in telecommunications. Michael found Zindi whereas trying to find African options to platforms like Kaggle. Zindi turned a hands-on studying floor for Michael, the place he might apply theoretical ideas, discover new fashions, and compete with a rising neighborhood of information scientists throughout the continent.
Michael additionally related with different knowledge scientists throughout the continent via Zindi’s dialogue boards. That’s how he met with Harmless Charles, a fellow competitor from Tanzania. They determined to crew up after seeing one another regularly on the leaderboards. They continued collaborating in challenges collectively, and over time, that collaboration grew into co-founding an AI firm.
Crossing paths, constructing collectively
Collectively, Michael and Harmless launched Sartify, an AI firm constructing options for Africa, by Africans. Their flagship initiative, PAWA (Pan Africa Large Alignment language mannequin), is targeted on preserving and selling African languages like Swahili via regionally related AI instruments. “Language is tradition. If we lose the language, we lose the individuals,” Michael says in a latest interview. “Our objective is to create small, highly effective fashions that protect these languages and make them accessible.”
Giving again
Michael’s journey has come full circle. From being one in all over 90,000 knowledge and AI professionals on Zindi utilizing machine studying to unravel real-world issues, he’s now a founder and returned as a problem host. Michael’s crew created the “Your Voice, Your Machine, Your Language Problem,” which duties members with constructing machine studying fashions that may recognise spoken Swahili.
The problem is a part of their broader effort to make voice applied sciences extra accessible to African customers. Most off-the-shelf speech recognition instruments don’t work properly for African languages, in the event that they assist them in any respect. Sartify is working to shut that hole. By launching this problem on Zindi, Michael is creating a possibility for African knowledge scientists to contribute to an answer that straight impacts their communities. This Your Voice, Your Device, Your Language Challenge is at the moment stay on the Zindi platform.
“It feels superb to be on the opposite aspect,” Michael says. “Zindi helped me develop, and now I get to contribute by creating alternatives for others.”
His recommendation for aspiring knowledge scientists is straightforward but highly effective: “Simply begin. Do any competitors, no matter your talent stage. You’ll uncover what you’re good at and what excites you.”
Zindi is constructing a robust pipeline of expertise the place studying, connecting, and assembly actual alternatives occur. In case you are searching for a platform to construct expertise, remedy actual issues, or uncover what’s attainable with AI, Zindi brings the proper individuals collectively.
