Picture of people learning in an impoverished region of Kenya

Empowering the Disadvantaged: AI as a Catalyst for Change

What if a simple AI tool on a battered smartphone could transform livelihoods in the world’s poorest regions?

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picture of women selling vegetables in the market place

AI represents the greatest opportunity to address the inequality afflicting many areas of the world, from the favelas in Rio to the increasingly arid farms north of Nairobi and the slums of Delhi. Years of neglect and disinterest have left over a billion people economically and educationally disadvantaged, struggling to survive.

The Struggle for Financial Independence

To support their families, they try to generate subsistence-level income through small-holdings and micro-businesses—the only viable alternatives to crime or charity dependency (where available). However, many struggle due to a lack of basic financial understanding. Some even confuse income and profit, leading to the rapid depletion of microfinance loans.

some even confuse income and profit

A Training Programme That Sparked Hope

people in Dalanzadgad learning about microbusinessFifteen years ago, I created a basic training programme for such situations in the Katwe slum in Kampala.

At the time, it was the only free, cascaded training available without electricity, and it worked surprisingly well.

It spread to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, South America, India, Nepal, and even Mongolia. However, it required translations, paper resources, and its examples were somewhat fixed.

AI in Action: Transforming Lives in Kenya

Recently, I took it to Kenya. While there, I visited several cooperatives in the semi-arid region east of Kiritiri.

While they wanted basic business skills, their biggest challenges were related to their crops: irregular rains and increased pests due to climate change. man talking to a group of farmers in KenyaTheir limited income was being spent on pesticides.

I am not a farmer, but I gathered details and input them into ChatGPT. It provided useful suggestions on interspersing and crop rotation.

When I translated the information into Kikuyu and shared it, they were amazed. They had learned farming from their parents but were unaware of these strategies.

Three of them had basic, battered smartphones. I set up ChatGPT on them with appropriate warnings and left them enthusiastically exploring all sorts of questions.

Unlocking AI’s Potential for Learning

Later, in Thika, I met a group of 40 young adults who had come up through a care charity. All had smartphones, but only one or two had used ChatGPT before. After a brief explanation and some basic guidance, they quickly grasped it.

I soon realised that all the training material I had spent months developing could be recreated within ChatGPT by feeding it a business plan template and the right prompt. It regenerated the entire training, using their examples, in their language, and at their reading level.

From Experiment to Scalable Solution

As you might expect, once back in the UK, I began developing a GPT (a tailored instance of ChatGPT) based on the business training framework. This is now being evaluated by friends in Nairobi.

Why ChatGPT? At present, it is the only personal AI that allows you to create publicly accessible GPTs via a URL. But perhaps this misses the point, should I really be limiting them to business answers? Should I be limiting them at all?

Shouldn’t my GPT be training them in how to use ChatGPT for anything—how to craft the right prompt for each need, whether in business, farming, carpentry, welding, crafts, or even for their own education by acting as a coach and mentor.

my GPT should be training them in how to use ChatGPT—how to craft the right prompt for each need

The Accessibility of AI: Breaking Down Barriers

ChatGPT has a robust free version, though I initially worried about data costs. However, I recently downloaded my entire chat history—over 450 days of discussions, over fifteen hundred A4 pages in PDF form. The entire file was under 10MB.

As long as smartphone access continues to grow and ChatGPT or another provider maintains a free tier, AI has immense potential to close educational and economic gaps, empowering people worldwide to reclaim their potential and reconnect with systems, services, and society that others take for granted.

Bringing AI to Those Who Need It Most

Screen shot of AI mastery GPTI have now created two prototype GPTs. One is tailored for disadvantaged communities, but since many people here at home lack the understanding of how to access the full potential of personal AI, I also developed a version for business professionals and Western users. My hope is that it will:

  • Help people realise the immense untapped potential of personal AI. Many of us barely move beyond asking it to write things or check what we’ve written, missing 98% of what it can do.
  • Provide direct, objective feedback on how the GPT might be improved—enhancing both versions and ensuring I receive critical insights from users.

If you’re interested, click this link: Prototype AI Mastery GPT. Share it widely and explore new possibilities. I hope it expands your skills in using AI and that you will provide feedback on what works and what doesn’t.

And if you know networks in disadvantaged areas that would benefit from the simpler version, please share this link: GPT for areas of disadvantage. Encourage them to provide feedback as well.

AI has immense potential to close educational and economic gaps, empowering people worldwide to reclaim their potential and reconnect with systems, services, and society that others take for granted

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