AI & African Music Project Unveiled by Wits University in South Africa

The Wits Innovation Centre and Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute astatine Wits University successful Johannesburg, South Africa, is launching the AI & African Music project, it was announced connected Wednesday (Sept. 10). The inaugural aims to empower creatives to research the intersection of cutting-edge exertion and African philharmonic traditions and sounds.

Musicians, producers, composers and euphony educators of African nationality and surviving successful an African country, careless of which genre they enactment in, are invited to taxable AI-driven euphony task proposals here. The deadline for submission is Sunday (Sept. 14). Proposals tin include: utilizing AI to co-create, execute and thatch euphony successful African traditions; recording, transcribing and preserving African philharmonic works, from oral practice to integer formats; reimagining local, traditional, indigenous oregon modern genres; and gathering and localizing AI tools that recognize African sounds, languages and workflows.

Selected honorees volition person 30,000 South African rand per period for 4 months and squad up with an AI technologist and programme advisor to make their unsocial ideas implicit a six-month process, starting with an manufacture speech and motorboat store successful November and culminating successful a showcase successful April 2026. Both events volition beryllium held astatine Wits University.

“As a dedicated spouse to the continent’s euphony ecosystem, Billboard Africa is thrilled to enactment The MIND Institute’s AI & African Music initiative. We’ve seen countless examples of however the matrimony of African creativity and innovation not lone propels civilization guardant but besides changes lives, and obscurity has this been much evident than crossed Africa’s immense and affluent philharmonic landscape,” said Nkosiyati Khumalo, editor-in-chief astatine Billboard Africa, successful a property release. “Technological projects which halfway African creativity let for much opportunities to transmit culture, to make caller pathways for find and collaboration, and to power the planetary euphony and originative industries. We look guardant to supporting and amplifying the breathtaking enactment the candidates produce.”

South African-born, U.S.-based manufacture seasoned and capitalist Charles Goldstuck is backing the project. Professors Christo Doherty of the Wits Innovation Centre and Benjamin Rosman, manager of the MIND Institute, are driving AI & African music.

“African philharmonic creativity offers tonalities, textures and traditions that situation and grow today’s AI tools — astir of which are trained connected Western data,” said Doherty successful a statement. “This task takes a bold measurement toward placing African creators astatine the centre of planetary technological transformation.”

Added Rosman: “The MIND Institute is committed to driving homegrown innovation that reflects Africa’s divers taste landscape. Through this project, we’re not conscionable participating successful the planetary AI speech — we’re starring it. By supporting musicians to experimentation with AI, we’re unlocking caller forms of look and ensuring Africa is simply a creator, not conscionable a consumer, successful the aboriginal of artificial intelligence.”