Event Recap: African languages, linguistic complexity, and ethical and inclusive AI
On August 14, 2025, the NLP Community of Practice’s AI in Africa Working Group came together to reflect on Africa’s place in AI—particularly how African languages can be integrated into emerging technologies. The discussion also explored how African language models can advance Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) outcomes. Our keynote speaker, Prof. Mpho Primus, guided us through a much-needed conversation on this challenge. In this blog, I will be sharing insights and reflections from the working group meeting.