Over 3 billion people are still offline, and advanced AI usually requires expensive hardware and fast internet. The digital inclusion means meeting people where they are. That’s why I am very proud of my team’s work with Viamo . Through their "Ask Viamo Anything" platform powered by Gemini, people in low-resource communities across Rwanda and Nigeria have received answers to over 2 million questions—using basic feature phones over standard phone lines. Hearing how farmers like Mukakalisa use voice-based AI in their local language to access information and make farming decisions shows what's possible when the ecosystem—telcos, model builders, and governments—collaborates. Google has joined a new Gates Foundation-backed global coalition dedicated to closing the AI language gap for 3 billion people over the next 5 years. Watch Mukakalisa’s story: https://lnkd.in/ez7xcEYD
AI That Meets People Where They Are: Google Gemini on Basic Phones
https://www.youtube.com/
This is fantastic, Anna Koivuniemi cc Barbora Bromová Navya Alam Alena K. Fatma Ahmed-Coleby Alex Hradecky Aafreen Siddiqui Sherwani
The practical takeaway is that AI inclusion depends as much on distribution as model capability. Reaching people through basic phones, voice, and existing telecom infrastructure makes "meeting people where they are" a product decision, not just an aspiration. What do you see as the biggest constraint to scaling this approach further: language, access, or trust?
The fact ✦ Gemini is available via phone line is huge (for reasons i don't wanna dive into but many will misinterpret me) Accessibility is the reason i am making a turnkey ✧ Gemma 4 harmess. So people can have a basic assistant in no coverage areas too. Still testing and polishing. But i was at it for quite some time now
Amazing work! Language and cultural nuance are such a fundamental part of making AI genuinely accessible. Very close to what we think about every day at Tower 28. Anna, would love to reconnect and have a chat sometime.
This is the future of AI, business, economy and humanity as well. India would be a perfect test case as we have poor but have infrastructure as well.
This is really great. We're looking at #edge AI for our next tech accelerator to support access and remote/low-bandwith contexts where a lot of impactful work is happening.
That is so true, meeting people and their requirements is what real digital inclusion means. Really appreciate Google for joining into the new Gates Foundation. Having Google Gemini on basic phones is a great strategy, so that everyone can utilize and grow.
Read more about Google’s language accessibility research and impact in James Manyika’s post: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/ai/ai-for-every-language/