Chinese smartphone firm, UNESCO partner to launch AI robot project in Kenya

Published: August 06,2024

Joan Nadal, UNESCO at STEM Education, Michael Zeng, Infinix Kenya, Amber Zhao, Infinix, John Kimani, Infini. Photo by Infinix Mobility.

Chinese Smartphone Company Infinix and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have teamed up to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) robot project in Kenya.

Michael Zeng, brand manager of Infinix Kenya, said the CogLabs project, which will be based at the University of Nairobi, Kenya’s oldest institution of higher learning, is an AI robot and machine learning educational platform that uses mobile phones as the brains of the robots to inspire creativity and accessible AI experiences for the next generation.

“The CogLabs approach guides users through building robots with 3D-printed parts and second-hand phones as well as training them using teachable machines and programming languages such as Scratch,” Zeng said in a statement released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Friday.

Zeng noted that CogLabs is a low-cost innovation project, as compared to current educational robots on the market that are expensive and complex to use.

Joan Nadal, master trainer of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Project at UNESCO, said the CogLabs project aims to promote STEM education, foster AI literacy, and empower young innovators.

The project will also benefit from UNESCO’s capacity-building workshops to enhance their knowledge of AI technology, Nadal added.

Xinhua