President William Ruto on Tuesday narrated a fascinating story of a village boy who remotely earns a living just from the comfort of his laptop by working for a German AI company.
The Head of State while delivering a speech during the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai, emphasised the power of technology on youths and gave an example of a boy from Eldoret called Brian.
Ruto narrated his experience when he visited a college in the suburbs of Eldoret town at a place called Kaiboi where he met the young man.
According to Ruto, Brian is a Diploma student, and because he has a computer, backed by the availability of electricity, now works for an AI company in Germany.
President Ruto launches the Kaiboi National Polytechnic in Mosop, Nandi County on January 16, 2024
PCS
“Mind you, Brian does not have a passport and has never been to the city of Nairobi but because of technology, internet and electricity, he now works not for a supermarket but for an AI company in Germany,” Ruto claimed.
According to Ruto, The digital economy was delivering attractive opportunities for young people to work for employers scattered across the world without having to leave their homes in Kenya.
Ruto also lauded Tim Cook, the Apple Company Chief Executive noting that the company had employed about 23,000 Kenyans, who all worked from Nairobi.
"We must not allow a fear of future unknowns to deprive brilliant youngsters like Brian of opportunities," Ruto proclaimed.
"If ever there was a case for great urgency in formulating a framework for the deployment of AI and Machine Learning, young Brian and his cohort place it in very sharp focus," Ruto added.
While commenting on onboarding all government services to eCitizen, President Ruto disclosed the government was finalising the process of enhancing the project.
According to Ruto, the goal is to make the government 100 per cent digital by the end of this year.
"Automating public services to make them accessible to citizens at their convenience. In the last year, we increased the number of digitally accessible government services from 5% to over 80%," Ruto remarked.
President William Ruto during an interview on February 9, 2024.
Photo
Nikkei/Koji Uema
