Popular Nigerian-American scientist Chinasa Okolo has made Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence list.

Time Magazine unveiled Chinasa Okolo and the other 99 personalities in a video posted on its website on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

The global media platform hailed the Nigerian, who is a Brookings Institution fellow, for her immense contribution to the passages of the International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI, which was led by Yoshua Bengio, the African Union strategy for responsible AI adoption, and Nigeria’s national AI strategy.

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Time Magazine also praised Chinasa Okolo for creating awareness about the benefits that are inherent in the use of artificial intelligence for African countries through her research. According to Time Magazine, Chinasa Okolo’s research also helps in the detection of floods and crop diseases and the harms that they can cause, as well as digitally enabled harassment on microlending platforms.

“Through these endeavours and her research, she is raising awareness about the benefits using AI could bring to countries across Africa—including the detection of floods and crop diseases—as well as its potential harms, such as digitally-enabled harassment on microlending platforms,” Time Magazine noted.

An excited Chinasa Okolo expressed optimism and said that “AI could help fuel socioeconomic development that has been much needed in Africa for the last half century.” 

Chinasa Okolo was “also concerned that this competition could limit the autonomy of African countries and perpetuate neo-colonial practices that have negatively impacted their economies.”