According to a report by tech giant, Google, Kenyan’s interest in AI and artificial intelligence related topics has soared drastically in recent times.
Rising by about 400% in the past five years period, Google searches by Kenyans involving AI are a testament to Kenyans’ interest in changing technology and innovation.
The Director, Eastern Africa for Google, Agnes Gathaiya said Kenyans are curious in understanding how the technology works.
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“It’s great to see people in Kenya showing such a keen interest in the transformational technology that is AI,” she said.
She also expressed Google’s commitment to working boldly and responsibly with Kenya to maximize the potential of AI, while minimizing its abuse.
On AI abuse, an internet watchdog sounded the alarm over the growing trend of sex offenders collaborating online to use open-source artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material.
The spiking interest on the subject of artificial intelligence has gone up by 270 percent since last year.
Further, the top search on matters AI was, “How to use artificial intelligence” searched by percentage of 350 Kenyans, more than last year.
This was followed by “What is an AI” search by over 300% more Kenyans. “How does AI work” was searched by an addition of 200% of Kenyan Google users while ‘’how to make AI?” search surged by 200% of Kenyan Google users.
Artificial Intelligence in Kenya
The rise of generative AI models has inspired many people into using artificial intelligence to help with various everyday tasks.
Moreover, these tasks include content generation and summaries. AI has also led to improved customer experience and has improved work productivity.
Kenya, and the global tech world has witnessed a surge in tools and apps built that rely on generative AI.
In March 2023, the tech giant, Google, introduced the conversational AI chatbot, Bard. Consequently, Swahili was the first African language introduced into the market by Google’s Bard in July.
ChatGPT is a large language model that OpenAI that was released in November 2022 and has been available in the Kenyan tech market since.
Other Searches on AI
Searches of AI in relation to jobs increased by over 5,000 percent in 2023, as searches for AI on CV and resume building increased by 1,150 percent as per the Google research.
Searches on “free AI image generator” increased by 2,500 percent, and on “AI music generator” increased by about 2,200 percent.
Google searches on “AI website builder”, “AI video generator” and “logo maker AI” also increased by huge margins.
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The Google searches report also showed that Kenyans are looking for technological resources to aid in the growth of their careers.
According to Google research, searches for “online business from home” have increased by 250% since 2022 and searches for “how to register a business” have increased by 200% from the past year.
Career growth in relation to AI
Searches in relation to AI courses doubled. With the growing demand for digital skills, Kenyans are looking to gain new certifications in the digital sector.
Searches for courses in virtual assistance, data analysis, digital marketing and cybersecurity all spiked significantly this year as compared to previous years.
