Empowering African Languages through NLP: The Masakhane Project

Abstract: Despite representing approximately one-third of the world's languages, African languages are vastly underrepresented in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and related technologies. The Masakhane Project —a collaborative, open-source initiative led by African researchers— aims to bridge this gap by developing NLP tools tailored for African languages. This talk will introduce the mission and methodologies of Masakhane, explore how they tackle the unique linguistic challenges of the continent, and assess the impact of their work in harnessing Artificial Intelligence to empower African communities.

Short bio: Ayodele Awokoya is a lecturer in the Computer Science Department at McPherson University and a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan, both located in Nigeria. With a deep passion for Natural Language Processing (NLP), Ayodele's research is centered on advancing Machine Translation, particularly for low-resource African languages, aiming to bridge the linguistic gap in technology. Beyond academia, Ayodele is an avid community builder and developer, contributing to open-source projects and fostering collaborations within the NLP research community. As a fellow of the prestigious Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), Ayodele has engaged with global leaders in mathematics and computer science, leveraging the platform to deliver science-oriented talks to secondary school girls, inspiring the next generation of scientists. Through partnerships with initiatives like the Masakhane project, Ayodele remains dedicated to making NLP tools more inclusive and accessible, empowering underrepresented languages and communities across Africa and beyond.

Presenter: Ayodele Awokoya

Date: 2025-01-24 11:30 (CET)

Location: Oficinas ELLIS Alicante, Muelle Pte., 5 – Edificio A, Alicante 03001, Alicante ES