The event highlighted how the growth of the AI industry is influencing the future of work, education, and commerce across South Africa.
Google South Africa says there have been tremendous shifts in users’ consumption patterns of news on the web, many of which are applicable to news publishers.
This was shared with attendees at the second leg of Google AI in Action held in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
AI
The event was a showcase of Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools’ impact on both the innovation, business and news landscapes within South Africa.
It drew a diverse attendance of tech ecosystem stakeholders, business leaders, and media, and served as a strategic platform for Google to reaffirm its commitment to advancing Africa’s digital transformation journey through the adoption of Artificial Intelligence.
News shift
Marianne Erasmus, news partner leader at Google, said there is a shift in the way people consume news, despite the advancement in technology.
The most recent Reuters Institute Digital News Report highlights that consumers are increasingly discovering news on social media, which we know is a very noisy information environment, and it can be very difficult for news brands to stand out.
Consumers want context, they want perspectives, news that is actionable and solution-oriented, and that connects them with others. They want visual format, particularly short-form video and other formats that meet them where they really are,” Erasmus said.
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Unique opportunities
Erasmus added that this shift by consumers creates unique opportunities.
“Consumers are really struggling to trust traditional news organisations and are turning to creators and personalities to fulfil their news needs.
“When we look at all this together, it tells us that we got a shared and unique opportunity to take this technological reflection point and create experiences that engage, that inform, that inspire. In light of this, our products need to evolve to adapt to remain competitive to keep driving traffic to the open web,” Erasmus said.
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Leveraging AI
Under the theme “AI is Now,” Google also used the opportunity to demonstrate how businesses, developers, and communities in South Africa can responsibly leverage AI to significantly enhance productivity, drive innovation, and effectively address real-world challenges.
This year’s event aimed at highlighting how the growth of the AI industry is influencing the future of work, education, and commerce across South Africa.
Through practical demonstrations, attendees gained insights into adopting AI solutions to unlock new opportunities, significantly improve operational efficiency, and maintain competitiveness within the rapidly evolving global digital economy.
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Transformation
Kabelo Makwane, Country Director for Google South Africa, said they believe in the immense potential of AI to transform businesses while uplifting the economy, and significantly improve lives across South Africa.
“We are dedicated to progressing AI responsibly and driving growth through partnerships and collaborations, ensuring that AI – as a transformative technology – is not only accessible, but also truly inclusive and responsible in attempting to address local and global challenges.”
Ask a Question
During the same event, IDInsight’s ‘Ask-A-Question’, developed in partnership with Reach Digital Health, was unveiled.
This solution, which benefits from Google.org’s support, is a natural language chatbot that dramatically reduces barriers to critical health information for new and expectant mothers.
Leveraging Google Cloud and a fine-tuned Gemma model, “Ask-A-Question” is already making a tangible difference, answering an astonishing 40,000 to 60,000 questions per month on the MomConnect platform in South Africa.
This highlights the profound real-world impact of AI in delivering essential support where it’s needed most.
Other announcements
Google also announced that AI-powered research and summarisation tool, NotebookLM, is now available in local South African languages, including isiZulu and Afrikaans.
The tool enables students to summarise study materials in their own language or a small business owner to review market insights in Afrikaans, bridging language and understanding gaps to ensure AI works for South Africa’s diverse linguistic communities.
This marks a significant step forward in fostering inclusive local content creation and consumption.
SynthID Detector
Another announcement at the event was the launch of the SynthID Detector, a public tool that helps users identify content that has been watermarked with SynthID.
With more than 10 billion pieces of content already watermarked, this tool offers a new layer of transparency and trust, especially for journalists, researchers, and anyone navigating the fast-evolving digital information landscape.
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