Africa’s AI Path to Health Impact

A robot, Osadebe, came out to greet me. Osadebe would be performing my procedure and had already been synced to all my records in The Database. Osadebe knew my favourite musicians, my favourite books, and even made jokes that matched my sense of humour. I couldn’t believe it. Osadebe would be something of a nurse and physical therapist to me after performing my procedure. Osadebe had already created customized versions of recommended lifestyle changes for me, accounting for my quirks—like what time I liked to go to sleep and how flavourful I liked my food. Osadebe would also be calling me to make sure I was fine before and after the procedure and providing me some counselling if needed.

—‘The Winged Woman’ by Ebele Mogo

In 2021, in response to a call for speculative fiction on alternative economic futures and technologies by Edgeryders, I wrote the short story ‘The Winged Woman’. It envisioned a future where an AI agent, Osadebe, trained on biomedical data, supported a woman preparing for surgery, offering personalized diagnostics and emotional support. At the time, it seemed like science fiction from a distant future. Yet, only a few years later, that future no longer seems so distant. By 2024, the United States Food and Drug Administration had authorized over 880 AI-powered medical devices, ranging from diagnostic tools and radiology image interpreters to systems that predict deterioration or guide treatment pathways. Algorithmic agents are already helping people plan surgeries, support diagnoses, and translate complex health information, and the promise of surgical robots is very real.