Nairobi: Over recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increasingly become integral to daily life in Kenya, serving as a tool for research and economic opportunities. As the nation embraces AI, two young innovators have developed an AI platform accessible without internet connectivity.
According to Kenya News Agency, the innovators, Morgan Gicheha and Paul Theceri, created the AI platform named Rurallink AI. This platform addresses the challenges of poor internet connectivity by allowing access to AI through Short Messaging Services (SMS) on all phones, including feature phones known locally as Kabambe.
Speaking to KNA, Rurallink AI Founder, Gicheha, explained that the platform enables users to access AI without any internet connection. ‘This service runs on all devices that can send an SMS message regardless of the type of device; it can run on both the latest smartphone and the oldest feature phone,’ he stated.
Gicheha initially built the platform for personal use during a holiday visit to a rural area with limited internet access. Realizing its potential to help others, especially those in rural areas, he decided to develop it further. ‘I wanted to be able to get some AI assistance from anywhere, so I started developing the platform slowly,’ he added.
After launching the platform in January, Gicheha shared it with friends and family, who responded positively. He later introduced it on Reddit, where it quickly gained attention, attracting around 100 users within an hour.
Co-founder Theceri highlighted the achievements and challenges faced by the startup, particularly financial constraints and limited publicity. Despite these hurdles, he remains optimistic about reaching more users. ‘We have a platform that can help a lot of people, but we are having challenges informing the people about our platform,’ he noted.
Theceri emphasized the platform’s potential to assist people in rural areas, including farmers and students without internet access. Rurallink AI charges Sh1 in airtime per SMS and currently operates on the Safaricom network, with aspirations to make it free and available on all networks.
Theceri concluded by encouraging more Kenyans to develop innovations that address local challenges while competing globally. ‘We are constantly updating and making our solution better and smarter so that it can serve the users well,’ he said.